Overview
- Hospital staff and officials say the Shahid Baqaei children’s cancer centre in Ahvaz was forced to evacuate 211 pediatric patients after projectiles landed close enough to shatter windows and trigger panic on Wednesday.
- Doctors and nurses reported critically ill children were affected, including patients on oxygen, ventilators and receiving chemotherapy who were moved urgently to nearby facilities.
- There were no immediate, confirmed civilian deaths reported from the strikes in the hospital area, though video and eyewitness accounts show heavy shockwaves and damage to hospital wards.
- Iranian officials condemned the action as a “barbaric” attack and potential war crime while U.S. authorities describe the operations as defensive and have carried out broader strikes that reached areas near Tehran, Bushehr and Semnan and hit a vessel accused of breaching a naval blockade.
- The evacuation adds to a widening exchange that began after late‑February operations, undermines a mid‑June memorandum that paused some hostilities, and raises legal, humanitarian and regional risks including further disruption to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and increased pressure on diplomatic efforts.