Since February 28th, Iran is experiencing a dangerous escalation of military violence with devastating consequences for civilians. After the 12-Day Israel-Iran war in June 2025, joint military strikes by Israel and the United States recently intensified attacks across Iran, with explosions targeting high-level power figures, but also damaging schools, residential areas and hospitals. Access to water, electricity, medicines, and emergency care is becoming increasingly unstable. The internet has been shut down since the first day of war. Iranians who were already living through a compounding crisis of state repression and violence amid economic instability, are now facing imperialist military aggression and find themselves stuck in a war between supremacists.
Following the anti-government protests across the country in the past decade and in January 2026, the Iranian regime responded with unlawful force, shootings, mass killings and arbitrary arrests, killing around 30000 people. Widespread internet shutdowns were used to hide human rights violations, and injured protesters were reportedly detained even within hospitals. At the same time, the United States and Israel have framed military pressure on Iran as necessary for security and peace. But militarization — whether through direct strikes or broader escalation — does not protect human rights or liberate women and minorities. They destabilize health systems, deepen inequities, and endanger civilian safety and sovereignty.
Conflict and militarization profoundly damage access to fundamental resources, including sexual and reproductive health services. Wars disrupt health systems, making it harder for people to access contraception, maternal health care, safe abortion services, STI, including HIV prevention and treatment services and mental health support. Armed conflict consistently limits women’s and girls’ access to reproductive care, increases maternal mortality, leads to unwanted pregnancies,unsafe abortions and pushes the LGBTQIA+ community back into silence.
Conflict also increases the risk of sexual and gender-based violence. In crisis settings, rates of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence increase, putting those who are the most impacted, including women, girls, gender-diverse people, at a higher risk of experiencing sexual and gender-based violence. This pattern was also documented during the 12-day conflict in Iran.
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This is a confrontation between three supremacist powers, and ordinary people will pay. Hospitals, schools, and homes are already being attacked. Removing one dictator does not bring democracy. Nothing justifies war. People deserve to live free, to shape their own future, and to secure their rights. - Soudeh Rade, Executive Director, SPECTRUM
It is also critical to note that the Islamic Republic has long restricted the human rights of women, girls and marginalized groups. From mandatory veiling laws to discrimination in family law and limitations on political and economic participation, women and gender-diverse communities have faced multiple systemic barriers. Iran has dramatically changed its politics to a pro-natalist policy that severely restricts access to abortion by criminalizing it. Free distribution of contraceptives and voluntary sterilization is restricted in most marginalized regions, and the State has established anti-abortion centres in 250 cities. Feminist and human rights activists inside Iran have risked imprisonment and violence for demanding justice, equality, dignity, and freedom.
Soudeh Rade, Executive Director of SPECTRUM, IPPF’s partner advocating for SRHR, freedom, and equality in Iran, notes, “The Iranian regime has long oppressed women and gender-diverse communities, violating their fundamental human rights and silencing dissent. But this is a confrontation between three supremacist powers, and ordinary people will pay. Hospitals, schools, and homes are already being attacked. Removing one dictator does not bring democracy. Nothing justifies war. People deserve to live free, to shape their own future, and to secure their rights, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality, and access to justice. Iranians’ blood is on the hands of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel and USA.”
IPPF continues to stand in solidarity with healthcare providers, feminist and human rights activists, and communities across Iran in their fight to demand justice, equality, and peace. We reject the instrumentalization of women’s rights as a pretext for war. We demand:
- An immediate cessation of militarized escalation and attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.
- Unhindered access to Internet, humanitarian and medical supplies, including essential sexual and reproductive health services.
- Protection of healthcare workers and facilities under international law.
- An end to unlawful state repression, including the targeting of protesters, activists, and marginalized communities, and liberation of political prisoners who are under higher risk.
IPPF will continue to stand in solidarity with those in Iran demanding dignity, equality, and justice for all.
Featured image credits: Koca Vehbi/Shutterstock
