The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and other violence, doing everything it can to protect their lives and dignity and to relieve their suffering, often with its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners. The organization also seeks to prevent hardship by promoting and strengthening humanitarian law and championing universal humanitarian principles.
In Iran, the ICRC:
- Works closely with the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), its primary humanitarian partner, to provide essential health, physical rehabilitation, and mental health services to vulnerable populations, including Afghan migrants and host communities.
- Supports efforts to locate and repatriate missing persons and deceased soldiers from the Iran-Iraq war, working with Iranian authorities and the Iraqi government to facilitate dignified management of human remains and family reunifications.
- Promotes International Humanitarian Law in cooperation with the Iranian National Committee on Humanitarian Law (NCHL), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, academia, and other national stakeholders through workshops, training, and publications.
- Protects family links by preventing family separation, restoring and maintaining contact, and facilitating reunifications for individuals separated by conflict, migration, or other humanitarian crises.
- Provides humanitarian logistics support, leveraging Iran’s strategic location to facilitate regional aid deliveries and supplies for ICRC operations.
- Engages in humanitarian dialogue with Iranian authorities to address humanitarian concerns, promote respect for IHL, and support the implementation of global humanitarian policies.
In 2024, through its partnership with the IRCS and other organizations, the ICRC:
- Delivered comprehensive primary health care and mental health services, including consultations and community awareness sessions.
- Supported physical rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities, including specialized training for healthcare workers.
- Facilitated family reunifications and exchanging Red Cross Messages to maintain family links.
- Organized workshops and training programs on International Humanitarian Law and humanitarian principles.
- Conducted joint technical meetings and handover ceremonies to support the search, identification, and repatriation of missing persons from the Iran-Iraq war.
- Enhancedumanitarian logistics capacities and facilitating the transit of aid goods to neighboring countries.
The ICRC has maintained a presence in Iran since 1977, with its activities during the Iran-Iraq war focused on visiting Prisoners of War, delivering assistance to them as well as displaced people, transmitting Red Cross messages, and repatriating the sick and wounded. Since 2001, the ICRC has expanded its operations in Iran to support its humanitarian work in Afghanistan and Iraq, while also continuing to address the legacy of the Iran-Iraq war, including the issue of missing persons, in partnership with Iranian authorities. The ICRC also fosters the acceptance of humanitarian principles and International Humanitarian Law, supports local initiatives to mitigate health and mine/Explosive Remnants of War risks, and provides access to health care and rehabilitation services for Afghan migrants, working alongside the IFRC and IRCS as part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
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