Iranian Security Forces Target Hospitals in Protest Crackdown, Rights Groups Allege
Hospitals in Iran have transformed from sanctuaries of healing into potential sites of detention and fear, according to multiple human rights organizations monitoring the country's ongoing protest crackdown. Rights groups are reporting a disturbing pattern of authorities targeting medical facilities as part of their response to anti-government demonstrations that have swept the nation.
Systematic Hospital Raids for Wounded Protesters
Multiple international rights organizations have documented systematic raids on hospitals where security forces search for individuals with injuries suggesting participation in protests. These operations have created an atmosphere where wounded protesters fear seeking medical treatment, potentially worsening health outcomes and increasing mortality rates among demonstrators.
Amnesty International has confirmed that security forces have "arrested protesters receiving treatment in hospitals" and received information indicating medical staff in central Isfahan province received orders to notify authorities about patients with gunshot and shotgun pellet injuries. This systematic monitoring of medical facilities represents a significant escalation in the government's response to dissent.
Medical Professionals Face Arrest for Providing Care
The crackdown extends beyond protesters to include healthcare professionals who provide treatment to the wounded. According to the World Health Organization, at least five doctors have been arrested specifically for treating injured protesters. The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran has documented multiple cases where security forces raided hospitals specifically to identify and arrest protesters injured during demonstrations.
Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights has investigated several cases where security forces raided medical facilities and informal shelters for the wounded to arrest both medical staff and volunteer first responders. The Hengaw rights group, also based in Norway, highlighted the specific case of Dr. Ali Reza Golchni, a physician from Qazvin northwest of Tehran, who was arrested "for providing medical care to injured protesters."
Deadly Consequences of Delayed Medical Treatment
The climate of fear surrounding hospital access has had fatal consequences. One documented case involves Sajad Rahimi, a 36-year-old from Iran's Gulf island of Qeshm, who was badly wounded when security forces shot at him during a protest in southern Fars province on January 9. According to Iran Human Rights, Rahimi feared being shot dead by security forces in what he described as a potential "coup de grace" if taken directly to hospital.
His family eventually transferred him to medical care, but he died from a deep wound caused by live ammunition and severe bleeding. His brother told investigators that doctors stated Rahimi would probably have survived if he had arrived at the hospital just ten minutes earlier, highlighting the deadly impact of treatment delays caused by security fears.
Government Response and International Concern
In apparent response to mounting criticism, Iran's health ministry this week issued a statement urging those injured in protests to seek hospital treatment without fear. "Our advice to the public is that if they suffer any kind of injury, they should not try to treat it at home, and they should not worry about going to medical centres," the ministry said in a statement carried by state television.
However, rights groups remain deeply concerned about the pattern of hospital raids and medical professional arrests. Activists accuse security forces of killing thousands and wounding many more by directly firing on protests, often using birdshot that leaves metal pellets requiring professional medical extraction. The targeting of medical facilities represents what rights organizations describe as a dangerous erosion of medical neutrality and a violation of international humanitarian principles.
