More than 4,000 children have been killed or injured in Iran and neighboring U.S.-allied countries during the ongoing conflict in the Middle East over the past five months, UNICEF said, warning that children continue to bear the heaviest burden of the violence.
In a statement published on its website on Friday, UNICEF’s Acting Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Abdul Fofana, said the humanitarian impact of the conflict remains severe, with children increasingly becoming victims in places where they should be safest, including their homes, schools and neighborhoods.
“The effects of the conflict continue to reverberate across Iran and neighboring countries,” Fofana said. “Children are being killed or permanently injured in places that should offer them protection.”
UNICEF said one of the latest incidents occurred on July 30, when a U.S. strike on a residential building on Qeshm Island, off Iran’s southern coast, killed a two-year-old child and the child’s parents. Two other children were reported injured in the same attack.
According to the agency, more than 2,500 child casualties have been recorded in Iran alone, including 386 children killed and 2,117 injured since the conflict escalated.
Across the wider region, the conflict has resulted in over 4,000 children killed or wounded in six countries during the past five months, UNICEF said.
Fofana stressed that the suffering of children must never be accepted as an inevitable consequence of war.
“Children did not start this conflict, nor do they have the power to end it. Yet they continue to pay the highest price,” he said.
UNICEF called on all parties to the conflict to fully comply with international humanitarian law, respect ceasefire commitments and take immediate steps to end the violence.
The agency also urged all sides to ensure the protection of children at all times, regardless of where they are, and to take every possible measure to safeguard civilians from the devastating consequences of the conflict.