Iran medics describe overwhelmed hospitals as protests enter second week

As protests in Iran entered their second week and Iranian authorities issued coordinated warnings to protesters, a doctor and medic at two hospitals told the BBC their facilities were overwhelmed with injuries.

One doctor said an eye hospital in Tehran had gone into crisis mode, while the BBC also obtained a message from a medic in 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 “big trouble” and warned “you better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too”.

Iran, in a letter to the UN Security Council, blamed the US for turning the protests into what it called “violent subversive acts and widespread vandalism”.

Meanwhile, international leaders called for the right to peaceful protest to be protected.

Anti-government protests have taken place in dozens of cities, with at least 50 protesters reported killed by two human rights groups.

The BBC and most other international news organisations are barred from reporting inside Iran, and the country has been under a near-total internet blackout since Thursday evening, making obtaining and verifying information difficult.

A doctor from Iran, who contacted the BBC via Starlink satellite internet on Friday night, said Farabi Hospital, Tehran’s main eye specialist centre, had gone into crisis mode, with emergency services overwhelmed.

Non-urgent admissions and surgeries were said to have been suspended, and staff called in to deal with emergency cases.

The BBC also obtained a video and audio message from a medic in a hospital in the south-west city of Shiraz on Thursday. The medic said large numbers of injured people were being brought in, and the hospital did not have enough surgeons to cope with the influx. He claimed many of the wounded had gunshot injuries to the head and eyes.

Since protests began on 28 December, at least 50 protesters and 15 security personnel have been killed, according to the US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA). More than 2,311 individuals have also been arrested, the group reported.

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

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

United Nations Secretary General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the UN was very disturbed by the loss of life.

“People anywhere in the world have a right to demonstrate peacefully, and governments have a responsibility to protect that right and to ensure that that right is respected,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz released a joint statement that said: “The Iranian authorities have the responsibility to protect their own population and must allow for the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remained defiant in a televised address on Friday, saying: “The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of several hundred thousand honourable people and it will not back down in the face of those who deny this.”

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

Iran’s UN ambassador accused the US of “interfering in Iran’s internal affairs through threats, incitement, and the 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 watching the situation in Iran carefully.

“It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago,” he said.

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

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

Later on Friday, the US said Iran’s foreign minister was “delusional” after he accused Israel and Washington of fuelling the protests.

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

Early on Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X: “The United States supports the brave people of Iran.”

Meanwhile, the Iranian security and judicial authorities issued a series of coordinated warnings to protestors on Friday, hardening their rhetoric and echoing an earlier message of “no leniency” by Iran’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).

Iran’s National Security Council said “decisive and necessary legal action will be taken” against protesters, which it described as “armed vandals” and “disruptors of peace and security”.

The intelligence arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said it would not tolerate what it described as “terrorist acts”, asserting that it would continue its operations “until the complete defeat of the enemy’s plan”.