Introduction
Iran’s nationwide protests since late December 2025 raise urgent questions about state compliance with international health and human rights law.[1] State responses to the protests have directly affected civilian safety, access to emergency medical care, and the functioning of health systems.[2] Since early January, the crisis has widened into a regional risk environment, marked by near total communications restrictions inside Iran, escalating international pressure, and intensified multilateral scrutiny of state conduct toward civilians and health institutions.[3]
The central argument of this paper is that state repression during periods of internal unrest constitutes a legally cognizable public health failure when it predictably disrupts medical neutrality, emergency care, and health surveillance.[4] Drawing on Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), the analysis treats health systems as protected civilian infrastructure.[5] Their impairment engages binding international legal obligations and constrains the lawful design and application of sanctions, diplomatic engagement, and technical cooperation.
The purpose of this paper is not to catalogue individual violations. It is to demonstrate how repression operates systemically to undermine the conditions necessary for civilian survival, producing excess morbidity, preventable mortality, and long-term health system degradation. The persistence of these outcomes reflects not a gap in international law, but a failure of global health governance to translate existing legal obligations into operational safeguards during political crises.
[1] “Iran: Authorities’ Renewed Cycle of Protest Bloodshed”, Human Rights Watch, 8/1/2026, accessed on 2/2/2026 at:
https://acr.ps/1L9F2h9.
[2] “Iran: Deaths and injuries rise amid authorities’ renewed cycle of protest bloodshed”, Amnesty International, 8/1/2026, accessed on 2/2/2026 at:
https://acr.ps/1L9F2Oi.
[3] “Iran: UN Fact-Finding Mission calls for immediate restoration of internet access and adherence to international human rights law”, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, press release, 10/1/2026, accessed on 2/2/2026 at:
https://acr.ps/1L9F2rF.
[4] United Nations Human Rights Council, “Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health,” UN Doc, A/HRC/44/48 (2020), accessed on 2/2/2026 at:
https://acr.ps/1L9F2ia.
[5] United Nations,
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Art. 12 (1966); United Nations,
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966); World Health Organization,
International Health Regulations (2005), Third Edition (2016).
