UN reports worsening humanitarian crisis in Iran

The humanitarian situation in Iran is deteriorating, with both Iranian authorities and UN agencies reporting severe damage to civilian infrastructure, alongside casualties among medical and rescue personnel, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, on Thursday.

Speaking at a press briefing, Dujarric said civilians and civilian infrastructure remain the hardest hit by the ongoing hostilities in Iran.

"(Iran's) national authorities, with the support of the Iranian Red Crescent, continue to lead response efforts, including search and rescue, emergency medical care, and temporary shelter. The World Food Program, UNICEF, and UNHCR, as well as the UN Development Program and humanitarian partners, are already present on the ground supporting food, health, water, education, and refugee assistance," he said.

Citing the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Dujarric said basic public service facilities in Iran have been severely damaged.

"Humanitarians are not immune to these hostilities. As of yesterday, the (Iranian) Ministry of Health reported 23 deaths and 112 injuries among health care workers, while the Red Crescent said that one death and 14 injuries among relief workers as of today. Hostilities have forced people to relocate to safer areas, increasing their vulnerability and often disrupting their access to essential needs, basic services and livelihoods," he said.

The OCHA said that in Iran, casualties were reported in at least 20 of the total 31 provinces, with the highest numbers reported in Tehran and Hormozgan.

As of Wednesday, the Iranian Ministry of Health had reported 23,000 casualties from the hostilities, including 1,801 children and 4,150 women.

UN reports worsening humanitarian crisis in Iran

UN reports worsening humanitarian crisis in Iran

UN reports worsening humanitarian crisis in Iran

UN reports worsening humanitarian crisis in Iran

More than 560 cutting-edge scientific and technological achievements and products were showcased at the permanent exhibition of the Zhongguancun Exhibition Center during the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum) Annual Conference.

The intelligence zone enjoyed the greatest popularity. The zone showcased robots performing various real-world applications, from sorting goods to sewing needles.

"We installed more than 20 motors in the robot's hand, and each motor must be fast enough, powerful enough, and stable enough," said exhibitor Zhang Yanbai.

Technical solutions in frontier fields, such as automatic implantation of invasive brain-computer interface surgeries, also attracted flocks of visitors.

The exhibition also showcased technological achievements and the latest applications in fields such as intelligent manufacturing and commercial aerospace.

In addition, a special zone for the joint development of new productivity in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region was set up, where representatives from the three regions focused on showcasing their projects, communicating with upstream and downstream enterprises, universities, research institutes, and related service providers to strengthen collaborative innovation and industrial cooperation.

The forum, running in Beijing from Wednesday to Sunday, is focused on the theme of "Full Integration Between Technological and Industrial Innovation."

Since its founding in 2007, the forum has become a major international event for advancing science and technology innovation.

Over 560 frontier sci-tech achievements showed at permanent exhibition during Zhongguancun Forum