The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has donated 12 tons of essential supplies and equipment to Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization (LMO), as part of its humanitarian mandate to strengthen humanitarian response capacities in Iran.

The donated items include administrative, as well as technical items needed to support the organization’s work, particularly in the identification of people who have died in natural disasters or armed conflicts, while ensuring that they are treated with dignity.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, Dr. Foroozesh, Deputy of the Legal Medicine Organization of Iran for Development and its Head of Crisis Management division, thanked the ICRC, noting that the donation strengthens LMO’s crisis capacity and supports the dignity of the dead. He expressed readiness to expand cooperation with the ICRC, while highlighting the negative humanitarian impact of sanctions, which have disrupted supplies for LMO’s routine activities, and called on the ICRC as a humanitarian organization to help facilitate access to essential equipment and goods.

Maruf Kandikov, ICRC Representative at the handover ceremony, commended the Legal Medicine Organization’s work to ensure the dignity of the dead and expressed hope that the donation would further strengthen its capacity for identification and helping families establish the fate of their loved ones. He expressed hope for the expansion of the cooperation with Iran Legal Medicine Organization.

The ICRC’s humanitarian forensic work aims to ensure the dignified management of the dead, support the scientific identification of human remains, and help clarify the fate of people who have died or gone missing in conflicts and emergencies.

In Iran, the ICRC has worked with the Legal Medicine Organization and other national institutions for about two decades, providing technical support, training and equipment for the identification and repatriation of remains from the Iran-Iraq War of 1980s. Its work has also expanded to strengthening preparedness for mass-fatality incidents, including training in forensic anthropology and the dignified recovery and management of human remains. At the heart of this work is helping families learn the fate of their loved ones while ensuring that the dead are treated with dignity.