WANA (Mar 25) – Parts of the research infrastructure of the Iran Pasteur Institute have been severely damaged following multiple attacks attributed to the United States and Israel, with the latest incident occurring on Monday, March 23. According to official statements, blast waves and shrapnel impact struck the institute’s central building, causing extensive destruction and disrupting critical scientific and public health operations.

 

The attacks resulted in the complete destruction of several buildings, while others suffered structural damage and equipment collapse. Laboratory facilities were particularly affected, significantly hindering the institute’s ability to continue its routine research and diagnostic activities.

 

The damaged complex, covering approximately 23,000 square meters, housed 13 national reference laboratories. These included facilities working on COVID-19, monkeypox, rabies, Escherichia coli, arboviruses and viral hemorrhagic fevers, malaria, pertussis, plague, tularemia, Q fever, biochemistry, protein chemistry, and prenatal diagnostics. In addition, three collaborating reference laboratories focusing on hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, and influenza were also located within the site.

 

The institute further reported that the complex included eight public health laboratories dedicated to diseases such as tuberculosis, leishmaniasis, toxoplasmosis, borreliosis, anthrax, botulism, brucellosis, and fungal infections.

 

It also hosted 23 research departments, two World Health Organization collaborating centers, three biobanks, three research networks, three research centers, a vaccination unit, and a laboratory approved by the national Food and Drug Administration.

 

At the time of the attacks, 110 faculty members, more than 400 technical and administrative staff, and 80 PhD students were working and studying at the institute. Officials confirmed that no casualties or injuries were reported among personnel.

 

Despite the scale of the damage, the Iran Pasteur Institute stated that contingency measures had already been implemented, allowing essential diagnostic services to continue operating through its other branches.

 

Founded in 1921, the institute is the oldest public health and medical research center in Iran. The damaged building, donated in 1924 by Abdolhossein Mirza Farmanfarmaian, is partially listed as a national heritage site.

 

As part of the global Pasteur Network—comprising 33 institutions worldwide—the institute has played a frontline role in combating infectious diseases for over a century.

 

Throughout its history, it has contributed significantly to controlling diseases such as smallpox, cholera, plague, rabies, tuberculosis, hepatitis, and COVID-19, while also advancing vaccine production, diagnostic technologies, and scientific training in the field of public health.