Iranian security agencies have in recent days made threatening phone calls to several doctors, instructing them not to treat people injured in the nationwide protests sweeping the country, according to IranWire sources.
The calls were overtly coercive. Medical professionals were told they must not provide care to wounded demonstrators. They were warned that if injured protesters sought treatment, doctors were required to report them to security agencies immediately.
According to the sources, the objective of these orders is to prevent information about protest-related injuries from leaving hospitals. Several of the doctors targeted had previously treated demonstrators during the 2022 protest movement that followed the death of Mahsa Amini.
Security officials have also contacted hospital administrators by phone and summoned individual doctors, with representatives of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence reportedly telling them, “Let’s talk.” Legal experts consulted by IranWire say these summonses have no legal basis. They describe the campaign as an effort to intimidate the medical community and deter doctors from treating injured protesters.
Alongside the latest wave of protests, observers say a disturbing new phenomenon has taken hold - what some activists refer to as “wounded theft.” The term describes efforts to interfere with medical treatment, forcibly remove injured individuals from hospitals, and carry out security operations inside healthcare facilities.
Video footage circulating on social media shows security forces storming Imam Khomeini Hospital on Sunday night, where many injured protesters had been taken. The videos show security personnel firing tear gas and live ammunition into the hospital courtyard, breaking down doors, and entering wards, where patients and civilians were beaten with batons and military equipment.
In several clips, nurses and civilians can be seen confronting security forces in the hospital courtyard as they attempted to protect the injured and prevent further violence.
Amnesty International condemned the hospital raids as violations of international law, saying that wounded protesters had sought medical care or refuge inside the facility at the time of the attack. Many of those injured during the violent suppression of protests in Ilam had been transferred to Imam Khomeini Hospital before the raid.
Further reports indicate that security forces also attacked Sina Hospital two days later. Human rights organizations say the targeting of hospitals, intimidation of medical staff, and detention of injured protesters and their families point to a broader strategy aimed at suppressing dissent and controlling information.
Legal advocates say that pressuring doctors to withhold medical care is unlawful and violates Iran’s own legal framework, which obligates citizens - particularly healthcare workers - to assist injured individuals in emergencies, regardless of the circumstances that led to their injuries. Such actions, they warn, place patients’ lives at risk and fundamentally undermine medical ethics.
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