Iranian regime forces have used hospitals and doctors as tools for shutting down antigovernmental protests in recent weeks, according to various media reports, citing firsthand accounts.
Since late December, Iranians have taken to the streets in unprecedented protests encompassing millions of people. The government has treated the protests as a threat to the stability of the Islamic Republic, and have cracked down violently on protestors. As many as 30,000 people may have been killed according to some medical estimates, although exact details and numbers are difficult to obtain due to Tehran blocking internet access in the country.
On Wednesday, the BBC reported that Iranian protestors fear hospital treatment, due to concerns that regime forces could arrest wounded protestors upon arrival. One protestor told the BBC that forces fired birdshot upon her and a group of friends during a protest in Isfahan.
“All the alleyways were full of security forces, so I asked a couple standing at their front door to let us in,” she said. Instead of going to a hospital, they were treated privately by a doctor they knew.
Another protestor told the BBC how his friend had to be moved into an operating theater through a back entrance to avoid detection. A medical source in Tehran also testified that in these times, doctors avoid mentioning gunshot wounds in medical reports due to regime forces checking hospitals for wounded protestors.
Besides persecuting protestors, the Iranian government has been accused of punishing medical professionals who treat those wounded during demonstrations, with one surgeon reportedly facing execution.
Rights groups accuse regime of arresting doctors providing medical treatment to protesters
According to Norwegian human rights group Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), the regime seeks to “to intimidate the public” through attacking medical workers. One source told the NGO that forces had arrested at least four doctors in the city of Ardabil, where dozens of people were reported to have been killed between January 8 and 9.
One source told IHRNGO how a volunteer first responder treated “more than 20 people in his home,” before forces arrested him on January 14.
“He was taken away in an extremely brutal manner and was severely beaten. The agents smashed all the windows, destroyed his home and completely wrecked his car,” the source added.
According to another Norwegian human rights group, Hengaw, prosecutors charged Dr. Alireza Golchini with moharebeh (waging war against God), for “providing medical care to injured protesters.” According to the organization’s source, forces beat Dr. Golchini when arresting him. The surgeon, who previously treated protesters injured during the Mahsa Amini protests, has been denied legal counsel and “other fundamental legal protections" according to the group.
On Wednesday, the US State Department’s Farsi X/Twitter account published a statement condemning Dr. Golchini’s arrest and demanding his release along with all other doctors arrested.
“By targeting those who have stayed faithful to their oath, the regime reveals its complete disregard not only for medical ethics but for the most basic principles of humanity,” the statement read.
“Criminalizing compassion and turning healers into enemies is a profound betrayal of civilization and a confirmation of barbarism.”