As protest persist across Iran and authorities issued coordinated warnings to protesters, medical workers at two hospitals told the BBC that their facilities were struggling to cope with a surge in injured patients.
One doctor said an eye hospital in Tehran had entered crisis mode, while the BBC also obtained a message from a medic at another hospital who said there were not enough surgeons to handle the growing number of casualties.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump said Iran was in “big trouble” and warned, “you better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.”
Iran, in a letter to the UN Security Council, accused the US of escalating the protests into what it described as “violent subversive acts and widespread vandalism.”
Meanwhile, world leaders urged that the right to peaceful protest be safeguarded.
Anti-government demonstrations have spread to dozens of cities, with two human rights organisations reporting that at least 50 protesters have been killed.
The BBC and most other international media outlets are restricted from reporting inside Iran, and the country has experienced a near-total internet shutdown since Thursday evening, making it difficult to obtain and verify information.
A doctor in Iran who contacted the BBC via Starlink satellite internet late on Friday said Farabi Hospital, Tehran’s main eye specialist facility, had gone into crisis mode as emergency services became overwhelmed.
According to the doctor, non-urgent admissions and surgeries were suspended, while additional staff were called in to manage emergency cases.
The BBC also obtained video and audio messages from a medic at a hospital in the south-western city of Shiraz on Thursday. The medic said large numbers of injured people were being brought in and that the hospital lacked sufficient surgeons to treat them. He claimed many of the injured had gunshot wounds to the head and eyes.
Since the protests began on December 28, at least 50 protesters and 15 security personnel have been killed, according to the US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA), which also reported that more than 2,311 people had been arrested.
The Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) said at least 51 protesters, including nine children, had died. BBC Persian confirmed the identities of 22 victims after speaking with their families.
UN Secretary General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the organisation was deeply concerned by the loss of life.
“People anywhere in the world have a right to demonstrate peacefully, and governments have a responsibility to protect that right and to ensure that that right is respected,” he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz issued a joint statement saying: “The Iranian authorities have the responsibility to protect their own population and must allow for the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei struck a defiant tone in a televised address on Friday, stating: “The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of several hundred thousand honourable people and it will not back down in the face of those who deny this.”
Later, addressing supporters in remarks broadcast on state television, Khamenei repeated the message, saying Iran “will not shirk from dealing with destructive elements.”
In contrast, Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah, described Friday’s protests as “magnificent” and called on Iranians to stage more targeted demonstrations over the weekend.
“Our goal is no longer just to take to the streets. The goal is to prepare to seize and hold city centres,” Pahlavi, who lives in the US, said in a video shared on social media. He also said he was preparing to return to Iran.
Former British ambassador to Iran, Sir Simon Gass, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “we really shouldn’t get too ahead of ourselves” when discussing regime change.
He noted that the absence of organised opposition within Iran meant there was no clear alternative for people to rally behind, but added that the protests differed from past unrest because they involved “a much wider movement of protesters than we’ve tended to see in the past”, driven by worsening economic conditions.
At the White House on Friday, Trump said his administration was closely monitoring developments in Iran.
“It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago,” he said.
Repeating earlier warnings to Iran’s leadership, he added: “We will be hitting them very hard where it hurts,” while stressing that US involvement would not mean “boots on the ground.”
Earlier, Trump had said he would “hit them very hard” if Iran “start killing people.”
Later on Friday, the US described Iran’s foreign minister as “delusional” after he accused Israel and Washington of inciting the protests.
“This statement reflects a delusional attempt to deflect from the massive challenges the Iranian regime faces at home,” a US State Department spokesperson said in response to remarks by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during a visit to Lebanon.
In the early hours of Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X: “The United States supports the brave people of Iran.”
Meanwhile, Iranian security and judicial authorities issued coordinated warnings to protesters on Friday, intensifying their language and echoing an earlier “no leniency” message from the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
Iran’s National Security Council said “decisive and necessary legal action will be taken” against protesters, whom it labelled “armed vandals” and “disruptors of peace and security.”
The intelligence arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it would not tolerate what it described as “terrorist acts”, adding that it would continue operations “until the complete defeat of the enemy’s plan.”
[BBC]