Doctors describe overwhelmed hospitals as protests enter second week

As protests continue in Iran and Iranian authorities have issued coordinated warnings to protesters, a doctor and nurse at two hospitals told the BBC their facilities were overwhelmed with injured people.

A doctor said an eye hospital in Tehran had gone into crisis mode, while the BBC also received a message from a doctor at another hospital saying it did not have enough surgeons to cope with the influx of patients.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump said Iran was in “great trouble” and warned: “you better not start shooting because we will start shooting too.”

Iran, in a letter to the UN Security Council, accused the United States of turning the protests into what it called “violent subversive acts and widespread vandalism.”

At the same time, international leaders have called for protecting the right to peaceful protest.

Anti-government protests took place in dozens of cities, and two human rights groups reported that at least 50 protesters were killed.

The BBC and most other international news organizations are barred from reporting in Iran, and the country has been under a near-total internet blackout since Thursday evening, making it difficult to obtain and verify information.

An Iranian doctor, who contacted the BBC via Starlink satellite internet on Friday evening, said Farabi Hospital, Tehran’s main eye center, had gone into crisis mode with emergency services overwhelmed.

Non-urgent admissions and surgeries were reportedly suspended and staff called in to deal with emergency cases.

The BBC also obtained a video and audio message on Thursday from a doctor at a hospital in the southwestern city of Shiraz. The doctor said a large number of injured people were being brought in and the hospital did not have enough surgeons to cope with the influx. He said many of the injured suffered gunshot wounds to the head and eyes.

Since the protests began on December 28, at least 50 demonstrators and 15 members of the security forces have been killed, according to the American news agency Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA). More than 2,311 people were also arrested, the group reported.

Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) said at least 51 protesters, including nine children, had been killed.

BBC Persian spoke to the families of 22 of them and confirmed their identities.

The spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, said the UN was very troubled by the human losses.

“People everywhere have the right to peaceful protest, and governments have a responsibility to protect this right and ensure it is respected,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz issued a joint statement saying: “The Iranian authorities have a responsibility to protect their own people and must allow freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisals. »

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remained provocative in a televised speech Fridaydeclaring: “The Islamic Republic came to power thanks to the blood of several hundred thousand honorable people and it will not back down from those who deny it.”

Later, in remarks to a gathering of supporters and broadcast on state television, Khamenei reiterated his message, saying Iran “will not avoid dealing with destructive elements.”

Iran’s ambassador to the UN accused the United States of “interfering in Iran’s internal affairs through threats, incitements and deliberate encouragement of instability and violence” in a letter to the UN Security Council.

At the White House on Friday, Trump said his administration was closely monitoring the situation in Iran.

“It seems to me that people are taking over some cities that no one really thought were possible a few weeks ago,” he said.

He echoed earlier warnings to Iran’s leaders, saying: “We will hit them very hard where it hurts.” He added that any U.S. involvement did not mean “boots on the ground.”

Thursday, Trump said he would “hit them really hard” if they “start killing people.”

Later Friday, the United States said Iran’s foreign minister was “delusional” after accusing Israel and Washington of fueling the protests.

“This statement reflects an illusory attempt to distract from the enormous challenges the Iranian regime faces at home,” a US State Department spokesperson said in response to comments by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during a visit to Lebanon.

On Saturday morning, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X: “The United States stands with the courageous people of Iran.”

At the same time, Iranian security and judicial authorities issued a series of coordinated warnings to protesters on Friday, toughening their rhetoric and echoing an earlier message of “no leniency” from Iran’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).

Iran’s National Security Council said “decisive and necessary legal measures will be taken” against the protesters, whom it called “armed vandals” and “disturbers of peace and security.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence agency said it would not tolerate what it called “terrorist acts,” saying it would continue its operations “until the enemy’s plan is completely defeated.”