In a shocking display of intimidation, Iranian security forces, disguised in civilian clothing, attempted to prevent doctors from providing medical care to injured anti-government protesters during last month’s widespread demonstrations. Photographs have surfaced, highlighting the tragic impact of the Islamic regime’s actions on its own citizens.
Doctors have come forward to the Associated Press, revealing that security agents from the regime stormed hospitals in numerous cities over several days. Their aim was to instill fear among medical professionals, apprehend protesters, and unceremoniously collect the bodies of the deceased.
In a desperate bid to protect the injured from government capture, some medical staff resorted to altering medical records. This measure was taken to prevent the regime from identifying and seizing those who had been hurt.
“The atmosphere in the hospital was extremely tense,” an anonymous doctor shared with the AP. “Plainclothes agents would burst into the emergency ward, wielding AK-47s, and threaten both staff and patients.”
In a particularly harrowing incident, a doctor tried to aid a man in his 40s who had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. However, security forces intervened, preventing any assistance. This tragic event unfolded in the northern city of Rasht, where the man succumbed to his injuries shortly thereafter.
In one case, a doctor attempted to help a man in his 40s who was shot in the head, but security agents blocked him and other staff from helping in northern city of Rasht. The man died minutes later.
A video obtained by the news outlet shows the armed forces breaking the glass door of a hospital to get inside as people ran for cover.
Anti-regime protests roiled Iran last month, with demonstrators initially angered over unbearable economic conditions. But the outcry from civilians led to a swift crackdown from the Islamic Republic, which is accused of gunning down innocent protesters and leading to at least more than 7,000 deaths, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The death toll is the highest since the current government took control in 1979.
Photos dating back to January show the intense grief that gripped the country during the unrest with Iranians sobbing over body bags containing their loved ones. One tragic image shows an inconsolable young man lying at the foot of a lifeless body.
A video from the AP shows dead victims messily arranged in bags strewn across the floor.
The injured and dead overwhelmed medical centers for days.
“The turnover was so incredibly insane that every 15 to 30 minutes the entire emergency ward would be emptied and then refilled with new patients,” the doctor said.
Protesters that survived their wounds were taken by armed forces after receiving treatment.
In a bid to keep survivors safe, medical staff would omit gunshot wounds from documentation.
An injury to the abdomen would be classified as a simple case of abdominal pain and a gunshot to the genitals was identified as a urology issue, according to the doctor.
“We knew that no matter what we did for the patients, they wouldn’t be safe once they stepped out of the hospital,” he said.
Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour denied that treatment was prevented or protesters were yanked from hospitals, calling the accusations “untrue, but also fundamentally impossible.
He had said in state media that all injured protesters were treated “without any discrimination or interference over political opinions.”
Medical workers who helped battered protesters have also faced arrests in the aftermath of the anti-regime rallies.
With Post wires
