On Tuesday, Israel struck a major pharmaceutical factory in Tehran that is one of the country’s top producers of cancer drugs and anaesthetics, the Iranian government said.

The facility belongs to Tofigh Daru Research and Engineering Company. It made drugs that are crucial for use in hospitals and operating rooms, officials said.

“During the US and Zionist regime attacks on civilian centres, on the morning of Tuesday, one of the largest companies producing anti-cancer, anaesthetic and specialized medicines was damaged and the drug production line was damaged,” the Iranian government said in a post on X.

The attacks represent a major blow to Iran’s health sector, especially as the U.S.’s longstanding sanctions regime on Iran has caused major shortages of medicines and medical equipment due to licenses and institutional fears of reprisal from the U.S.

Prior to the war, these shortages were already dire, threatening patients’ lives despite the availability of drugs in other countries. The health of people in Iran has already been harmed acutely by the wide-ranging sanctions; research has found that sanctions like the ones reimposed on Iran last year by the UN Security Council shorten lives by 1.2 to 1.4 years.

Israel acknowledged the strike on the facility, claiming, without evidence, that the facility was secretly supplying a potentially deadly drug to Iran’s military research agency, which Israel claims is developing chemical weapons.

Iranian officials disputed this, saying that Israel is trying to disrupt the country’s health care system — a tactic that Israel has deployed in numerous conflicts in the region, including in its genocide in Gaza.

International humanitarian law prohibits countries from targeting civilian facilities, and dictates that a military must do everything possible to limit harm to civilians even if they are striking military targets. Photos of the facility posted by Iranian officials show that the building appears completely destroyed, with the top floor charred and blown out while destruction spilled down to the ground floor.

“Attacking pharmaceutical factories represents yet another dimension of their criminal sanctions — the very same sanctions that have long deprived Iranians of life-saving medicines,” said Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei in a post on X.

“This is a blatant war crime & crime against humanity,” he went on. “Those who try to distract public attention from the realities of this illegal war by obsessing over the price of oil and groceries should be careful not to become complicit in these atrocities.”

Tofigh Daru is owned by Iran’s largest pension fund, according to Iranian officials. “The company in question belongs to the nation’s retirees,” said top Iranian health official Mahdi Pirsalehi.

The attack on the factory “represents a direct attack on Iranian public health,” said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, sanctions researcher and founder of think tank Bourse & Bazaar Foundation, which studies economic policy in the Middle East and central Asia.

“Iran manufactures 90% of the drug doses it needs and mainly imports advanced therapies,” Batmanghelidj said. “Companies like Tofigh Darou produce ingredients and precursors which can then be used to make a wide range of drugs domestically. The only reason you would hit this target is to try to limit medicine production in Iran.”

Press freedom is under attack

As Trump cracks down on political speech, independent media is increasingly necessary.

Truthout produces reporting you won’t see in the mainstream: journalism from the frontlines of global conflict, interviews with grassroots movement leaders, high-quality legal analysis and more.

Our work is possible thanks to reader support. Help Truthout catalyze change and social justice — make a tax-deductible monthly or one-time donation today.