The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
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
- Exterior medium shot, UN flag alley, UN Geneva.
- 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.”
- Medium shot of the apartment buildings in the vicinity of Resalat Square in Eastern Tehran, struck in March, April 2026. Credit UN Iran.
- 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.”
- Medium shots of apartment buildings in the vicinity of Resalat Square in Eastern Tehran, struck in March, April 2026. Credit UN Iran.
- 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.”
- Medium shot of the apartment buildings in the vicinity of Resalat Square in Eastern Tehran, struck in March, April 2026. Credit UN Iran.
- 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.”
- Medium shot of the apartment buildings in the vicinity of Resalat Square in Eastern Tehran, struck in March, April 2026. Credit UN Iran.
- 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.”
- Wide shot showing 290,000 doses of Pentavalent vaccine arriving in Iran to support routine immunization, July 2026. Credit UNICEF Iran.
- Wide shot showing 290,000 doses of Pentavalent vaccine arriving in Iran to support routine immunization, July 2026. Credit UNICEF Iran.
- 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.”
- Wide shots (stills) of UNHCR staff with wash kits prior to distribution, September 2026. Please credit UNHCR.
- Medium shot (still) of a woman carrying food assistance. Please credit UNHCR.
- 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.’”
- 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.
- 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.”
- Various shots (moving and stills) of UN agencies providing assistance in Iran.
- UN Geneva flag alley.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC: Early access to care and oxygen decisive for Ebola patients’ survival – WHO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers fighting the country’s largest-ever Ebola outbreak are struggling to overcome critical challenges to patient care, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF
Aid agencies in Yemen highlighted the growing hunger emergency sparked by renewed fighting between Houthi opposition forces and Government troops, after mobile health clinics reported that hundreds of children displaced by the violence are suffering from the most deadly form of malnutrition.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Displacement on the rise in Yemen as fighting continues - UNHCR
As hostilities worsen in Yemen, more people have been fleeing their homes, further intensifying the humanitarian crisis within the region, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar at the 63rd Human Rights Council.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk today delivered an update on the global human rights situation to the 63rdsession of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine - WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the UN health agency to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This is the third attack to affect a WHO-used storage in the last three months.