WHO chief warns after Israeli attack on Iranian oil facilities | US-Israel war over Iran news

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says children, elderly are at particular risk after damage to Iranian petroleum facilities.

The head of the World Health Organization has warned that recent Israeli attacks on oil facilities in Iran could have negative effects on public health, with Iranian children and the elderly being particularly vulnerable.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement on Monday that damage to Iran’s petroleum facilities “risks contaminating food, water and air”.

Those risks “may have severe health consequences, especially for children, elderly people and people with existing medical conditions,” Tedros warned in a post on X. “Oil-laden rain has been reported in some parts of the country.”

Iranian authorities targeted oil facilities in the capital Tehran and the nearby province of Alborz on Saturday in a United States-Israeli war against the country, the Fars news agency reported.

Israel said it hit “several fuel storage facilities in Tehran” used to “maintain military infrastructure”.

The strikes sent huge flames and clouds of thick black smoke into the skies above Tehran, with Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi reporting that black raindrops fell on Sunday morning.

The attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure came as the US and Israeli governments vowed to continue bombing the country despite growing international concern over the widening conflict.

Iran has retaliated to US-Israeli attacks by launching missiles and drones at targets across the Middle East, including energy infrastructure in nearby Arab Gulf states.

Human rights groups have condemned both Iran and the US and Israel for targeting civilian infrastructure.

Israel must take all feasible precautions to avoid or minimize risks to civilians when targeting oil refineries in Iran, Amnesty International chief Agnes Callamard said on Monday.

“Incidental harm to civilians, including the release of a toxic substance, indicates that too few precautions were taken, and that the incidental harm to civilians is disproportionate,” he wrote in X.

“The tragic scenes described by Iranians after the bombing of Tehran’s oil depots are yet another demonstration that ultimately, no matter what they say, US and Israeli attacks on Iran are harming civilians first and foremost, including children.”