[Correspondence] Violations of medical neutrality during protests in Iran

00:00 - 30 Jan 2026

Hospitals are protected spaces under international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, and are further safeguarded by WHO standards, which prohibit military or security force interference in health-care spaces.1 Such interference violates the principle of medical neutrality, which requires that patients, health-care providers, ambulances, and hospitals remain free from attacks, intimidation, or violence. Attacks on hospitals represent grave violations of human rights and, in some contexts, constitute war crimes.