Iran condemns Israeli strike on field hospital as ‘war crime’

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Friday, 11 October, condemned Israel's airstrike on an Iranian field hospital along the Syria–Lebanon border and called it a "war crime".

In a statement, Baghaei criticised Israel for targeting the 56-bed hospital operated by the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), which was destroyed along with its equipment and aid supplies, Xinhua news agency reported.

Baghaei said Israel's frequent strikes on hospitals and rescue centres in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria were a "clear sign of its insurgence against all international regulation and norms".

IRCS president Pir-Hossein Kolivand also denounced the airstrike as a "clear violation of international humanitarian law that prohibits attacks against rescue and medical centres", noting that the hospital was marked with the IRCS flag, reported the official news agency IRNA.

Iranian foreign minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, during a meeting in Doha with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani on Thursday, 10 October, had said Israel's "warmongering" is the main cause of insecurity and instability in West Asia.

Araghchi called for an end to what he described as "genocide" and the destruction of infrastructure in Lebanon and Gaza, according to the Iranian foreign ministry.

The Qatari foreign minister also called for regional cooperation to stop the Israeli "crimes", promote stability and support the Palestinian and Lebanese people.