The U.S. State Department has strongly condemned the violent assault by Islamic Republic security forces on Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ilam in East Kurdistan, describing the attack as “brutal” and an “explicit crime against humanity.”

In a statement published via its Persian-language account on the social media platform X, the U.S. State Department shared footage showing Iranian security forces storming the hospital. The statement reported raids on medical wards, physical assaults on healthcare workers, and the use of tear gas and live ammunition against wounded civilians. It stressed that such actions constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian law, underscoring that hospitals are protected spaces and must never be treated as battlefields.

The assault took place on Sunday evening, 4 January 2026, amid widespread unrest in Ilam, a predominantly Kurdish region in western Iran. According to reports, injured protesters had sought refuge at Imam Khomeini Hospital to escape street clashes. Security forces reportedly surrounded the hospital, forcibly entered multiple wards, and used tear gas and batons to arrest wounded protesters—some of whom had been transferred from Malekshahi County.

Human rights observers warn that the attack reflects a broader pattern of systematic violence by the Iranian authorities against Kurdish civilians and protesters, including the targeting of medical facilities and the criminalization of emergency care. Kurdish activists have described the incident as further evidence of Tehran’s disregard for basic human rights and international norms in its crackdown on dissent in Kurdistan.