Medical staff in Iran described overflowing hospitals, severe shortages, and rising deaths in Tehran and other cities during a wave of anti-regime protests, according to accounts reaching Israel as the country remained under heavy restrictions on information.
Doctors and hospital workers said the past several nights brought an enormous influx of wounded and dead, to the point that even basic treatment became difficult. They described packed corridors, emergency rooms operating under extreme strain, and morgues that could no longer keep up with the number of bodies.
The protests began about two weeks ago in Tehran amid deep economic distress and quickly spread to more than 100 cities and towns across the country, the accounts said. Estimates cited in those reports put the number of people killed or injured in the thousands, including children, while many others were arrested. Much of the harm, the medical staff said, involved young demonstrators.
'No time for resuscitation'
One of the most harrowing accounts came from a hospital in Tehran, where a staff member described a night in which there was “no time for resuscitation.” She said dozens of wounded and dead were brought in, many with fatal injuries, and that the pressure became so intense that hospital facilities could not cope. “The hospital stopped functioning and turned into a death scene,” she said.
Other hospitals in the capital reportedly faced similar conditions. According to the accounts, facilities shifted to emergency footing, canceled non-urgent activity, called in staff from home, and treated large numbers of patients with serious facial and head injuries.
Doctors also said regime security forces used live fire, including weapons that caused devastating wounds. Medical workers reported a large number of eye injuries and described what they said looked like a repeated pattern rather than random harm.
Outside Tehran, staff members in Shiraz described a severe shortage of surgeons as casualties mounted, according to the reports. Another account referred to a hospital in Rasht, saying morgue capacity was exhausted and bodies were moved outside. A source at that hospital claimed authorities demanded families pay billions of Iranian rials to release bodies for burial.
Information, internet blackout
The reports described these conditions unfolding under a heavy information blackout. Since Thursday, Iranians have faced a near-total internet shutdown, the accounts said. Only in the past day did limited connectivity reportedly return in some areas through Starlink, the satellite internet system linked to Elon Musk, allowing a small amount of documentation to leak out. The footage described in the reports showed unrest in the streets and demonstrators continuing their efforts despite the crackdown.
Against that backdrop, the reports also criticized the World Health Organization, arguing that the global health body had not issued a clear, forceful public response to the allegations of attacks on civilians and the strain on hospitals. The accounts said medical teams and civilians needed immediate protection, and warned that silence from international institutions carried consequences when hospitals were overwhelmed, and basic care broke down.