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Petrochemicals and Pills: How the Iran War Exposed Medicines' Oil Vulnerability

Petrochemicals and Pills: How the Iran War Exposed Medicines' Oil Vulnerability

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A new analysis shows how the Iran War disrupted upstream inputs for pharmaceutical supply chains, as the United States and Iran move toward a deal

Black soot after reported black rain following a strike on fuel tanks, in Tehran, Iran, on March 10, 2026.

Iran's Black Rain and the Health Shadow of Oil Wars

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The environment is a casualty of the Iran war, as "black rain" creates toxic damage that typically endures

How the Iran War Could Drive a Historic Hunger Crisis

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Acute hunger threatens 45 million if the conflict extends into June. A roadmap from the Ukraine War could contain the humanitarian fallout

A woman from the indigenous Turkana Nilotic community pours sorghum grains into a sack, at a World Food Program food distribution center, at the Kenya Oil village near Lodwar, in Turkana County, Kenya, on February 17, 2026.

How the Iran War Is Straining Humanitarian Aid, in Three Charts

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Aid organizations face meandering shipping routes and soaring fuel costs beyond the price of gasoline

Map titled “Shipping Aid in Wartime” showing how food shipments to Port Sudan are rerouted because of the Iran War. A solid dark line marks the typical route from Nhava Sheva, India, across the Arabian Sea, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and Red Sea, to Port Sudan, with labels for Salalah, Jeddah, Suez Canal, and Port Sudan. A dashed orange line shows the alternate route looping south across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa’s southern tip, and back up West Africa and the Mediterranean before reaching the Red Sea. A note on the map says ships avoiding the Bab-el-Mandeb take this longer route. Caption states that rerouting can add 6,000 miles and more than three weeks of transit time.

Iran War Threatens Water Desalination in the Middle East

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A rep from the International Water Management Institute details the possible ripple effects of attacks against desalination plants

Pie chart titled “Middle East Dominates Water Desalination.” It shows the share of global operational cumulative desalination capacity by region. The Middle East has the largest share at 41.8%, followed by East Asia and the Pacific at 22.2%, North America at 10.3%, Europe and Central Asia at 9.56%, Latin America and the Caribbean at 6.1%, Africa at 5.89%, and South Asia at 4.15%. Subtitle notes that the region processes 29 million cubic meters of water per day, equal to 42% of the world’s capacity. A footnote says Africa excludes Egypt, and Europe and Central Asia excludes Turkey and Cyprus.

Darkness and Courage: A Humanitarian in Lebanon Details the War Escalation

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MedGlobal's Lebanon country director describes how communities are stepping in amid the fresh conflict

MedGlobal teams provide urgent support to internally displaced persons, in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 16, 2026.

"We've Been in Famine for Months": Life in Post-Ceasefire Gaza

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Amid the Iran war and new closures of Gaza's border crossings, Palestinians have resumed a desperate search for food and medical aid

Project HOPE Gaza Human Resources Coordinator Nouralhuda Abu Gefra sits in the rubble of her partially damaged house in Gaza, on October 14, 2025.

Where the Iran War Could Disrupt Pharmaceutical Supply Chains

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Pharmaceutical company executives are responding to the immediate supply-chain threats by targeting unconventional routes

Worldwide Flight Services personnel prepare humanitarian aid packages for the first French humanitarian flight to Beirut, carrying 60 tons of relief supplies and pharmaceutical products, at Paris‑Charles de Gaulle Airport, in Roissy‑en‑France near Paris, France, on March 12, 2026.

A Humanitarian Off-Ramp for the Iran War

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Health diplomacy has long served as means for adversaries to work together when politics make broader engagement impossible

Members of the Red Crescent talk to each other as smoke rises into the air after a reported strike on Shahran fuel tanks, in Tehran, Iran, on March 8, 2026.

Health Care Under Fire: How the Middle East Reflects a Global Crisis

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Humanitarian law obliges all conflict parties to protect health facilities and workers, yet deadly attacks persist

Health Care Under Fire: How the Middle East Reflects a Global Crisis

Hospital Attacks in Gaza and Israel: What Counts as a War Crime?

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Global attacks on hospitals and health care have become more frequent, but perpetrators have enjoyed near total impunity

Hospital Attacks in Gaza and Israel: What Counts as a War Crime?

The Toll of Violence on Women and Youth in Iran

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A "pervasive trauma is seeping through Iran," affecting the mental health of women and children

A woman wears a face mask and has the words "Freedom" written in blue paint on her forehead in Arabic. She takes part in a protest following the death of Mahsa Amini, near the Iranian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, October 4, 2022.