Tehran IVF clinic devastated by US-Israeli attack as hospitals and homes hit

Tehran IVF clinic devastated by US-Israeli attack as hospitals and homes hit

The bombing campaign targeting Iran, now in its second day, has left Mohsen and Firouzeh heartbroken. After a decade of efforts, the couple recently sought help at a fertility clinic within Tehran’s Ghandi hospital, their last hope for parenthood.

“The hospital staff worked so hard to help us,” Mohsen says. “After 10 years of trying, we finally had hope.”

But the hope was shattered when a strike hit the hospital, inflicting “very serious damage” on its IVF unit. Mohammad Hassan Bani Asad, the hospital’s director, reported that one employee sustained critical injuries, including brain bleeding, requiring surgery.

“Now, after hearing about the attack on the IVF section, we feel like we are losing our minds,” Firouzeh says. “We don’t know what has happened. We don’t know what happened to our samples. We don’t know if all these years of effort and hope are gone.”

Iranians interviewed by Middle East Eye, including Mohsen and Firouzeh, provided only their first names due to safety concerns. The U.S. and Israel claimed their strikes aimed to strike Iran’s leadership, military, and nuclear facilities, with several high-ranking officials already killed, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Despite the stated objectives, the attacks have left visible scars. Residential buildings, offices, and even a primary school in Tehran were destroyed, resulting in the deaths of approximately 150 girls aged seven to twelve. The Golestan Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, also suffered damage.

According to the Red Crescent Society, at least 787 people have lost their lives in the campaign, with over 150 cities across Iran affected. Negin, a resident of Tehran’s Shariati neighborhood, witnessed an air strike demolish the nearby Army hospital.

“I saw things that I would never have believed if I hadn’t seen them myself,” she tells Middle East Eye.

Negin claims dozens were killed in the blast, which targeted the Joint Staff headquarters and Revolutionary Court just two streets away from her home. “Many residential homes on the same street were completely destroyed,” she says.

Mohammad Raiszadeh, head of Iran’s Medical Council, highlighted the destruction of at least 10 medical centers. He compared the current situation to Israel’s attacks on hospitals during the Gaza conflict.

“They showed during the Gaza tragedy that they cannot stop attacks on hospitals and medical centres,” Raiszadeh says.

The Israeli military released a statement asserting that the Gandhi hospital only suffered “minor and collateral damage,” claiming the target was nearby military infrastructure. However, hospital staff told a different account.

Salmaz, a nurse at Gandhi hospital, described the chaos. “We were working as usual when we suddenly heard a loud blast,” she says. “The force of it threw me into the corner of my office. The building caught fire. Everyone was screaming and trying to escape.”

“In those terrible moments, we were just trying to save the babies,” Salmaz says. “I have never seen anything like this in my life. Only in movies.”

Other areas of Tehran, such as Niloufar Square, also faced severe damage. Mohammadali, a 32-year-old employee at an advertising firm on Motahari Street, recounted the destruction of his workplace. A colleague was critically injured, and the office was reduced to rubble.

“Israel keeps saying it only targets military sites,” Mohammadali says. “Our company creates advertising content for small businesses. What does that have to do with the government or the Revolutionary Guard? They destroyed our office, and one of our colleagues is now fighting for her life.”