Iran protests: wounded avoid hospitals as raids rise
We begin with a half‑open door in Isfahan. Tara and her friend had just been fired at as motorbikes swept through a protest. A stranger ushered them into a car. “Please don’t take us to a hospital,” Tara begged, fearing arrest more than pain. Names in this story are changed for safety.
They hid in a nearby home until almost dawn. A trusted doctor cleaned the birdshot wounds in their legs. Later, a surgeon removed what pellets he could at home, warning that others would stay lodged in their bodies. This is now common: treatment off the books to avoid surveillance.
The wider picture remains unclear. An internet shutdown and restrictions on foreign reporting make counting difficult. The US‑based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says it has confirmed 6,301 deaths, including 5,925 protesters, 112 children, 50 bystanders and 214 people linked to the state, and is investigating a further 17,091 deaths. HRANA also reports at least 11,000 seriously wounded protesters. Several injured people told the BBC they avoided hospitals because they feared arrest.
Healthcare workers explain why. Security forces are present in some hospitals and, according to staff, patient records are monitored to identify protest‑related injuries. Care is pushed into kitchens, spare rooms and quiet clinics, where medics and volunteers take personal risks to treat strangers.
Nima, a surgeon in Tehran, saw wounded young people on his commute on 8 January. He transported one man in his car boot, was stopped by armed officers, and continued only after showing his hospital ID. He says teams then worked almost four straight days, operating while in tears as blood soaked gowns and scrubs.
He recalls one patient shot in the leg and face, a bullet entering under the chin and exiting through the upper jaw. Others arrived with hits to vital organs and smashed limbs, leading to amputations and lifelong disabilities. The corridors echoed with urgency and grief.
Officials present a different story. They say more than 3,100 people have been killed during the unrest and that most were security personnel or bystanders attacked by what they call “rioters”. Health ministry spokesman Hossein Shokri told the semi‑official Tasnim agency that around 13,000 operations had been carried out. He said roughly 3,000 people who had been self‑treating over six days had returned to hospitals, reflecting public trust in medical centres.
Eye injuries stand out. The head of Tehran’s Farabi Eye Hospital, Dr Qasem Fakhrai, told the semi‑official Isna agency that by 10 January they had treated 700 patients with severe eye trauma needing emergency surgery and referred almost 200 more, with most cases arriving after 8 January.
Saeed told the BBC his friend was hit by birdshot in both eyes in Arak and was told to travel to a specialist unit in Tehran. At Farabi, nurses reportedly moved patients to theatres via staff lifts to avoid crowded corridors. He counted about 200 eye‑injured patients from different cities. The surgeon refused payment.
Another witness, Sina, described a hospital that felt like a field ward: too many wounded, not enough blankets or kits. A nurse told him to bring a blanket from home. To use insurance, they had to give a real ID number, which he feared could expose the family to a raid at any time.
Outside the capital, reports to the BBC describe security forces removing patients from hospital beds; some have not been seen again. Rights groups say medics who treat the injured are themselves being targeted, adding to the fear that keeps people away from formal care.
Iran Human Rights reported at least five doctors and a volunteer first responder arrested. Sources close to Qazvin surgeon Dr Alireza Golchini say he was beaten at home and detained for treating protesters. He was accused of “moharebeh” - enmity against God - an offence under Iranian law that can carry the death penalty.
What this means for us as readers and citizens: when people fear hospitals, a health system risks becoming an arm of policing rather than care. International standards matter. Iran is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects the rights to life and peaceful assembly, and to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which protects the right to health. Obstructing impartial treatment and intimidating medics runs against those obligations and fundamental medical ethics.
How evidence is checked when the internet is cut is essential media literacy. Groups such as HRANA and outlets like the BBC triangulate witness testimony, hospital accounts and images or videos using time and place checks, and follow‑up calls with families. Under shutdowns and fear, treat every figure as a minimum; totals can change as access improves.
A quick glossary for the classroom: birdshot refers to small lead or steel pellets fired from a shotgun. At close range or when aimed high, it can blind or leave dozens of fragments in soft tissue. Even when doctors remove some pellets, others often remain, risking infection and chronic pain.
Behind the statistics are choices made in moments of danger: a couple opening their door, a nurse guiding patients through staff lifts, a surgeon quietly refusing payment. Additional reporting for these accounts comes from BBC Persian journalists Faren Taghizadeh and Maryam Afshang.