'Direct shots to the heads': Iranian hospitals overwhelmed as protests rage

Hospitals in several Iranian cities have been pushed to breaking point as large-scale anti-government protests continue, with medical staff describing an influx of dead and critically injured patients amid reports of live ammunition being used against demonstrators.

Staff at three hospitals told the BBC their facilities were struggling to cope with the number of casualties. A medic at a Tehran hospital said patients arrived with “direct shots to the heads of the young people, to their hearts as well”, while another doctor said the capital’s main eye hospital had entered crisis mode.

Two medical workers said they treated protesters wounded by both live ammunition and pellets. Iranian security forces are known to use shotguns that fire pellet-filled cartridges during confrontations.

Young protesters among the dead and injured

A hospital worker in Tehran described “very horrible scenes”, saying the volume of casualties left staff without time to perform CPR. “Around 38 people died. Many, as soon as they reached the emergency beds… direct shots to the heads of the young people, to their hearts as well. Many of them didn’t even make it to the hospital,” she said, reported the BBC.

She added that the mortuary quickly ran out of space, forcing staff to place bodies on top of one another and later stack them in a prayer room. The worker said most of the victims were young people aged between 20 and 25.

Crisis declared at specialist hospitals

A doctor speaking to the BBC via a Starlink satellite connection said Tehran’s Farabi Hospital, the city’s main eye specialist centre, had gone into crisis mode on Friday night. Non-urgent admissions and surgeries were suspended, with additional staff called in to handle emergency cases.

Another doctor in Kashan said many injured protesters had suffered eye injuries, while colleagues across the city reported receiving large numbers of wounded people during Friday night’s unrest.

Graphic accounts from the front lines

A doctor at a Tehran medical centre described scenes from Thursday night, saying: “The number of injured people and fatalities was very high. I saw one person who had been shot in the eye, with the bullet exiting from the back of his head.”

He added that around midnight the centre’s doors were closed, after which a group broke in and left a man who had been shot. “But it was too late – he had died before reaching hospital and could not be saved.”

Deaths, detentions and disputed figures

The protests began in Tehran a fortnight ago over economic hardship and have since spread to more than 100 cities and towns across all of Iran’s provinces. Hundreds of protesters are believed to have been killed or injured, with many more detained.

Members of the security forces have also been killed, with one human rights group putting the figure at 14.

In a news release on Saturday, HRNA said that at least 116 have died in the protests in total, including 38 security personnel. The group noted that at least seven of the protesters killed were under the age of 18. The group also reported that at least 2,638 people had been arrested while conducting demonstrations across the country.

Official reactions and international response

Iranian police said no one was killed in Tehran on Friday night, though they confirmed that 26 buildings were set on fire, causing extensive damage.

On Friday, the US repeated that killing protesters would be met with a military response, while Iran accused the US of turning peaceful protests into what it called “violent subversive acts and widespread vandalism”.

President Trump responded on social media, writing, “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”

In a news release on Saturday, HRNA said that at least 116 have died in the protests in total, including 38 security personnel. The group noted that at least seven of the protesters killed were under the age of 18. The group also reported that at least 2,638 people had been arrested while conducting demonstrations across the country.