An urgent call to honor, respect and protect those who #ActforHumanity.

Accompanied by a search-and-rescue dog, an emergency responder for the Iranian Red Crescent searches through the rubble of a building for survivors.


‘There was no time to pause … The screams of trapped families pushed us to move faster, despite the constant risk.’ A story of humanity from the heart of conflict.


On a conflict-torn night in Tehran, Morteza Zakeri, head of a relief and rescue team, was dispatched to a residential building struck by airstrikes. He arrived to find devastation – collapsed homes, shattered glass, and streets filled with terrified women and children.

“There was no time to pause,” he says. “We began clearing debris immediately. The screams of trapped families pushed us to move faster, despite the constant risk of further collapse.”

Yet in the middle of fear and rubble, Zakeri found pride in the courage of his team. “It’s not just duty anymore,” he says. “It’s love. We stand by our people until the very end.”

On World Humanitarian Day 2025 (19 August), we unite with humanitarians around the world under the banner #ActforHumanity to honour the courage of people like Morteza who rush toward danger to save lives - often at great personal risk.

We also join with others in pledging to further heighten our resolve to ensure humanitarian workers and emergency responders are respected and protected as they carry out their life-saving duties.

This year, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OHCA), the lead sponsor of World Humanitarian Day, is directing its fund-raising efforts for the day to the Red Family Fund, which provides support to the families of Red Cross and Red Crescent humanitarian workers who die in the line of duty.

Since the beginning of 2024, a total of 50 Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers and workers have been killed in the line of duty. 18 of those deaths occurred in 2025. Each one of them stood under the protective emblems of the Red Cross, Red Crescent, or Red Crystal – which under international humanitarian law means they must be respected, protected and never become a target.

This includes five people from the Iranian Red Crescent Society, whose volunteers and staff responded with extraordinary bravery during a deadly escalation of violence in June 2025.

Some of them made the ultimate sacrifice. Others survived, but carry with them the scars, stories, and spirit of what it means to be a humanitarian. In this story, we pay tribute to both: those who gave their lives while helping others, and to those who continue, against all odds, to serve with love, resilience, and act with unwavering humanity.

Iranian Red Crescent first responder Nima Ahmadi stands with his camera amid the still-smoldering ruins of a recently bombed building. He has served with the Iranian Red Crescent, providing first aid, saving lives and documenting humanitarian work through his camera lens.


For nearly two decades, Nima Ahmadi has served with the Iranian Red Crescent, both as a rescuer and a storyteller. During the 12-day conflict, he embodied both roles.

When explosions shook his neighborhood on the first night, Nima rushed to the scene in his own car, first - aid kit in hand. He treated the injured before other responders arrived - and documented the devastation through his camera lens.

“I put on my relief uniform and went to the explosion site,” he recalls. “I drove my own car to the location. People had already crowded into the area. I entered the scene as a relief worker. No one had arrived yet to aid; I had my aid kit with me, and I provided first aid to injured people. When emergency services and other rescue agencies arrived, I continued providing support. Alongside the relief work, I was also documenting the scene with photography.”

In another neighborhood, he found three children lying in the street, covered in dust. “I was alone. I aided them, then moved on to another area. I didn’t stop - neither providing aid nor reporting and photographing.”

Kianoush Fallahi, a search and rescue dog trainer, alongside his dog Zhiro in western Tehran.



Kianoush Fallahi, a search and rescue dog trainer, was responding alongside his dog Zhiro in western Tehran. As they began operations, a second wave of airstrikes hit the area.

“A powerful explosion rocked the area; Zhiro was shaken by the shockwave. I quickly moved him to safety and tried to continue the operation on my own - but the strikes kept coming. Every time we approached, another blast would follow.”

But the cost of service soon became personal. As he approached an Iranian Red Crescent ambulance to greet fellow responders, a strike hit.

“As I was leaving the Doukhouheh area, my colleague Mojtaba Maleki and another colleague were standing near an ambulance parked along the highway. I walked over to greet them, but seconds later, that same ambulance was struck.

“I was thrown by the blast. When I got up, I couldn’t find my colleague Mojtaba. Someone told me he had been killed. I just stood there and wept.”

A Red Crescent ambulance that came under attack is placed in Tehran’s central square to commemorate the emergency workers who were killed in the conflict.


Honouring the fallen: A call to protect those who protect others

The death of Mojtaba Maleki was not an isolated tragedy. He was one of five Iranian Red Crescent staff and volunteers who lost their lives during the recent escalation of violence - each of them killed while fulfilling their humanitarian duty to protect and save others.

On 13 June, Mehdi Zartaji Saray, a member of the IRCS rescue team, was killed in East Azerbaijan province while responding to wounded civilians.

On 14 June, Yaser Zivari, a volunteer firefighter and rescuer, was seriously injured while providing humanitarian assistance in Hamedan. He succumbed to his injuries eight days later.

On 16 June, during a rescue operation in northwest Tehran, an ambulance was struck in an airstrike, killing Mojtaba Maleki and his colleague Amir Hassan Jamshidpour - both dedicated IRCS staff members.

On 22 June, Seyyed Ali Akbar Mir Mohammadi, a volunteer offering aid in Isfahan, was killed when a building collapsed during an attack.

These five lives - cut short while helping others - represent the deepest cost of humanitarian service. They were not carrying weapons. They carried stretchers, medical kits and hope.

On World Humanitarian Day 2025, we remember these five brave people, and countless others across the world, who gave their lives in service to humanity. We hope stand with us to protect humanity; our call is urgent and clear:Protect humanitarian workers.
Respect humanitarian emblems.

No one should ever die while saving lives.

Learn how you can support those who #ActforHumanity:

Stand with us to protect humanity

Honor the fallen: visit the IFRC In Memoriam page

Support the Red Family Fund

Make a donation to the Red Family Fund