Hospitals across Iran are reportedly inundated with patients as anti-government demonstrations sweep through the nation, according to sources on the ground. Medical staff are grappling with a surge in injuries, including gunshot wounds, straining the capacities of their facilities.

A doctor from Tehran’s Farabi Hospital, the leading eye care center in the capital, shared with the BBC on Friday that the hospital is in a state of emergency. Non-urgent procedures have been put on hold as staff struggle to manage the influx of emergency cases.

In Shiraz, a medic reported to the network that hospitals are facing a severe shortage of surgeons amidst the rising number of injured individuals seeking medical attention. Many patients are arriving with gunshot wounds, particularly to the head and eyes, underscoring the severity of the violence.

The death toll from the protests has reached at least 72, with more than 2,300 people detained, as per the Human Rights Activists News Agency based in the United States.

A vehicle was seen engulfed in flames during a demonstration in Tehran on January 8, 2026, highlighting the escalating tension. (Photo by Khosh Iran/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

The unrest, which erupted in late December, was initially sparked by shopkeepers and bazaar merchants protesting against skyrocketing inflation and the drastic devaluation of the rial, which lost about half its value against the dollar over the past year. With inflation surging past 40% in December, the protests have expanded to include university students and residents of provincial cities, leading to violent clashes with security forces.

At a news conference in Washington, D.C., Friday, President Donald Trump said Iran was facing mounting pressure.  

“Iran’s in big trouble,” Trump said. “It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago. We’re watching the situation very carefully.”

Trump warned that the United States would respond forcefully if the regime resorts to violence. 

“We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts.” 

Protesters gather as vehicles burn amid evolving anti-government unrest in Tehran, Iran, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released Jan. 9, 2026.  (Social Media/via Reuters)

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signaled a coming clampdown despite U.S. warnings, according to The Associated Press. 

Tehran escalated its threats Saturday, with Iran’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warning that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death penalty charge. The statement carried by Iranian state television said even those who “helped rioters” would face the charge.

“Prosecutors must carefully and without delay, by issuing indictments, prepare the grounds for the trial and decisive confrontation with those who, by betraying the nation and creating insecurity, seek foreign domination over the country,” the statement said. “Proceedings must be conducted without leniency, compassion or indulgence.” 

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered support for the protesters.

Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Kermanshah, Iran, Jan. 8, 2026.  (Kamran/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

“The United States supports the brave people of Iran,” Rubio wrote Saturday on X.