Conflict taking a human and economic toll on civilians in Iran, says top UN official

Civilians in Iran are continuing to feel the consequences of months of conflict and military escalation, the UN’s top official in the country has said, as loss of life, damage to civilian infrastructure and mounting economic pressures leave many facing continued uncertainty.

Outside Iran, seven months to the day since U.S.-Israeli bombing of Iran began, the price of crude oil passed $108 a barrel on Monday, amid an ongoing near-freeze on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and disruption to maritime traffic passing in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, linked to fighting in Yemen between Houthi opposition fighters and Government forces.

Speaking exclusively to UN News, the UN Resident Coordinator in Iran, Christine Weigand, said that 30 of the country’s 31 provinces have been impacted by the conflict, with more than 3,400 civilian fatalities and more than 33,000 people injured.

“We have seen an impact on critical infrastructure throughout the country, from the heartbreaking strike on the school in Minab, which left so many children, teachers and parents dead, to health care facilities that have been affected desalination plants, electricity infrastructure and so forth,” she said.

From her base in Tehran, Ms. Weigand has seen for herself the deadly destruction caused by repeated bombardment. “There’s people who have lost loved ones, there are people who have lost livelihoods, either as a result of military strikes directly or also as a result of the economic impact of this conflict,” she stressed. “Walking through the rubble and through what remained of the apartment block…I basically just saw the everyday lives of people just basically came to a stop and came to a halt. I clearly was clearly able to identify what used to be a children’s bedroom with toys lying around, children’s books and certainly as a parent, this is something that obviously stays with you.”

Working with the authorities, UN agencies, funds and programmes in Iran have supported affected communities through a range of humanitarian and recovery efforts, including maintaining essential health services, providing mental health and psychosocial support, and assisting vulnerable groups through protection and cash-based support. The UN has also helped strengthen the continuity of medical services through back-up power and vaccine cold-chain support, while providing specialized equipment for debris removal and early recovery.

The UN senior official underlined the disruption of the conflict to people’s everyday lives. “Many people also just say that, ‘Well, we’re just postponing decisions that we would otherwise want to make for our lives. We are postponing plans both in professional terms and in personal lives because we don’t know what will happen.’”

Amid that uncertainty, the Resident Coordinator highlighted the resilience that she had witnessed of people in Iran, recalling how, even during active bombardment around the Persian New Year, people would still go to markets and prepare to mark Nowruz. “What has certainly struck me most is the resilience of people throughout it all,” she added.

Rising food prices are among the daily economic pressures facing people, she said, alongside inflation and the declining value of the currency, that are now contributing to concern and anxiety about the cost of living. “Iran obviously has been under various sanctions regimes for many years now,” continued Ms. Weigand, an Austrian national who arrived in Tehran just two weeks before the war erupted. “But we’ve also seen now renewed rounds of sanctions being imposed. And sanctions do have real consequences. They have real consequences on people. They have real consequences for our national partners. And they also have consequences on our operations.”

ends

Story: Iran update – UN Resident Coordinator
SOURCE: UNTV CH

RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
Duration: 3’47”

DATELINE: 29 September 2026 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND & VARIOUS BROLL, IRAN & PHOTOS, PLEASE CREDIT UN AGENCIES LISTED IN SHOTLIST

Speaker:

• Christine Weigand, UN Resident Coordinator, Iran

SHOTLIST

1. Exterior medium shot, UN flag alley, UN Geneva.
2. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christine Weigand, UN Resident Coordinator, Iran: “The scale and the intensity of the military operations we have seen has certainly had a significant impact. We’ve seen 30 of the 31 provinces of Iran being affected. We’ve seen, according to national authorities, more than 3,400 people or civilians who have died as a result of the conflict and more than 33,000 people injured.”
3. Medium shot of the apartment buildings in the vicinity of Resalat Square in Eastern Tehran, struck in March, April 2026. Credit UN Iran.
4. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christine Weigand, UN Resident Coordinator, Iran: “Walking through the rubble and through what remained of the apartment block, you basically just see how - I basically just saw - every day, you know, the everyday lives of people just basically came to a stop and came to a halt and what, what this means. You know, I clearly was clearly able to identify what used to be a children’s bedroom with toys lying around, children’s books and certainly as a parent, this is something that obviously stays with you.”
5. Medium shots of apartment buildings in the vicinity of Resalat Square in Eastern Tehran, struck in March, April 2026. Credit UN Iran.
6. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christine Weigand, UN Resident Coordinator, Iran: “I mean, there’s people who have lost loved ones. There are people who have lost livelihoods, either as a result of military strikes directly or also as a result of the economic impact of this conflict.”
7. Medium shot of the apartment buildings in the vicinity of Resalat Square in Eastern Tehran, struck in March, April 2026. Credit UN Iran.
8. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christine Weigand, UN Resident Coordinator, Iran: “Unfortunately, we have seen an impact on critical infrastructure throughout the country, from the heartbreaking strike on the school in Minab, which left so many children, teachers and parents dead, to healthcare facilities that have been affected, desalination plants, electricity infrastructure and so forth.”
9. Medium shot of the apartment buildings in the vicinity of Resalat Square in Eastern Tehran, struck in March, April 2026. Credit UN Iran.
10. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christine Weigand, UN Resident Coordinator, Iran: “A lot of the support the UN has been providing to the response has, for example, been in health, where we’ve worked with partners to help maintain essential health services, also so providing, for example, back-up generators to healthcare facilities through ensuring that the capacity of the cold chain is maintained throughout to enable timely vaccine delivery. There’s been, for example, support in terms of providing very specialized equipment for debris removal, especially in urban areas, to support the recovery efforts.”
11. Wide shot showing 290,000 doses of Pentavalent vaccine arriving in Iran to support routine immunization, July 2026. Credit UNICEF Iran.
12. Wide shot showing 290,000 doses of Pentavalent vaccine arriving in Iran to support routine immunization, July 2026. Credit UNICEF Iran.
13. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christine Weigand, UN Resident Coordinator, Iran: “We’ve seen in particular food prices increase quite substantially. And this is obviously a major source of concern and anxiety for people and certainly for the most vulnerable groups.”
14. Wide shots (stills) of UNHCR staff with wash kits prior to distribution, September 2026. Please credit UNHCR.
15. Medium shot (still) of a woman carrying food assistance. Please credit UNHCR.
16. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christine Weigand, UN Resident Coordinator, Iran: “Based on the conversations I’m having also, it’s really something that impacts daily lives in the sense that many people also just say that, ‘Well, we’re just postponing decisions that we would otherwise want to make for our lives. We are postponing plans both in professional terms and in personal lives because we don’t know what will happen next.’”
17. Wide shot, panning, of wrecked cars near an apartment building in the vicinity of Resalat Square in eastern Tehran, struck in March. April 2026. Please credit UN Iran.
18. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christine Weigand, UN Resident Coordinator, Iran: “Iran obviously has been under various sanctions regimes for many years now. But we’ve also seen now renewed rounds of sanctions being imposed. And sanctions do have real consequences, they have real consequences on people, they have real consequences for our national partners and they also have consequences on our operations.”
19. Various shots (moving and stills) of UN agencies providing assistance in Iran.
20. UN Geneva flag alley.