Iran says US military strikes near children’s cancer hospital, forcing chaotic emergency evacuation of 211 patients | World News

Hospital director Reza Bazar claimed that the US military attacks on Ahvaz city put the hospital out of service, Al Jazeera reported, citing Tehran’s Fars news agency. There were no reports of casualties in the bombing.

Shahid Baqaei Hospital, a children’s cancer treatment centre in Ahvaz, was evacuated last night after the US attacked a near location.
This barbaric attack, reminiscent of Israel’s atrocities against healthcare facilities, caused severe suffering and anxiety upon the… pic.twitter.com/xv3W7SY2X9
— Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) July 16, 2026
Official condemnation compares strike to medical site warfare
Iran’s Foreign Minry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei called the US military strikes near the children’s cancer hospital “barbaric”, adding that it “caused severe suffering and anxiety” among hospitalised children.

Video footage shows a children’s cancer hospital in Ahvaz being evacuated after US strikes hit areas close . pic.twitter.com/HTErmJZuBr
— IRNA News Agency ☫ (@IrnaEnglish) July 16, 2026
Baqaei added, “This barbaric attack, reminiscent of Israel’s atrocities against healthcare facilities, caused severe suffering and anxiety among the hospitalised children and forced the emergency evacuation of 211 patients undergoing chemotherapy.”
Critical oncology units disrupted heavy bombardment
A staff member of the hospital told Al Jazeera that “These are special patients, including cancer patients, who are hospitalised here. Unfortunately, the area around here has been bombed heavily. Some of the patients [were] on oxygen and ventilators.”

Shahid Baghaei children’s cancer hospital in Ahvaz evacuate patients due to the US attacks.#Iran #USWar pic.twitter.com/x4iZNdqe8X
— IranPress (@IranPress_eng) July 16, 2026
Cross-border exchanges dismantle temporary security deals.
The development comes as the US and Iran continued to exchange fire, with the American military hitting a ship it accused of trying to breach the Iranian naval blockade.

Tehran retaliated with missile and drone attacks targeting Washington’s allies in the Gulf region and threatened to escalate its attacks further.
The renewed conflict between Washington and Tehran over asserting control and imposing a fee for transiting the Strait of Hormuz has shredded the chances of holding an interim peace deal signed between the two countries last month, and threatens that the region could fall back into an all-out war, which started after the US-Israel joint attack against Iran on February 28.
Pentagon expands air campaign to northern capital limits
Expanding the scope of targets in the fresh round of hostilities, the US military’s strikes reached into areas around Iran’s capital, Tehran, for the first time.
Tehran had effectively shut the strait after US-Israel joint strikes against the Islamic Republic began in February, and it jolted the oil and gas supply across the globe since the strategic waterway is used to ship 20 per cent of global energy supplies.