Doctors in Iran have joined the anti-regime protests against the presence of security forces in hospitals and the arrest and intimidation of their colleagues during two months of unrest across the country, but they are now paying a heavy price for their participation.
The “Washington Post” newspaper says that hundreds of doctors gathered outside the Iranian Medical Council in Tehran last October 26 to express their anger at the practices of the security forces inside hospitals towards the protesters, and some of them chanted “Death to the dictator” in reference to the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Eyewitnesses told the newspaper that security forces, most of whom were in civilian clothes, were stationed around the building, while pickup trucks stood nearby to transport detainees.
Then, without warning, riot police on motorbikes started firing metal pellets at the protesting doctors.
The newspaper quoted a doctor who was present at the protest as saying that “the police were firing from their rifles without stopping, while the doctors rushed to escape.”
Another doctor says, “They used guns firing metal balls, batons and tear gas without any restrictions,” adding that “they beat a young dentist and a 70-year-old old doctor on the heads and knocked them to the ground.”
According to the newspaper, Iranian doctors were among the first to question the official account of the death of the young woman, Mahsa Amini, days after her arrest by the “morality police” in mid-September.
She adds that doctors are now the target of an intense crackdown by the authorities, who are chasing medical workers for providing care to injured protesters.
The newspaper indicated that the deputy head of the Medical Council in Tehran was pushed while trying to help a doctor during the events of October 26, and that the head of the council was punched in the face during the incident.
Both resigned on the same day amid reports of doctors being arrested, while others posted pictures on social media showing bruises and severe injuries on the same day.
Hadi Ghaemi, director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, a New York-based advocacy group, says that “the activity of security men inside medical institutions is what made the medical community revolt, and today they are themselves a target of the authorities.”
Since the early days of the protests, security forces have been stationed inside hospitals to identify and arrest protesters, and pressure medical staff to report them.
As the number of arrests increased, many protesters began to avoid hospitals, prompting sympathetic doctors to provide care inside homes, exposing them to great risks, according to the newspaper.
Doctors and activists point out that a few hospitals currently provide care for people without asking for the national patient number, in order to ensure that injured protesters are not tracked by security forces.
The newspaper pointed out that some of the demonstrators resorted to veterinarians to avoid detection and arrest. Doctors and activists reported that security forces in civilian clothes also attacked pharmacies.
She added that if someone comes to buy a sterile gauze pad for an injured friend or relative, he may be arrested by the authorities on the spot or often monitored in order to arrest him with the person who needs medical care.
As a result, protesters had to create an informal online network where protesters could learn about their injuries and connect with a therapist who would then connect them with a doctor in their area.
A doctor involved in these efforts told the newspaper that encrypted communications are being used to reduce the chance of security agents penetrating the network.
The doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that this network also distributes medicines, although obtaining them from local pharmacies has become difficult, indicating that plans are being discussed to obtain medical supplies from outside Iran to avoid repression by the authorities.
Doctors and activists assert that government forces are trying to hide during the protests by using ambulances to transport security personnel and arrest protesters.
The protests that erupted after the murder of a young Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, pose one of the biggest challenges facing Iran’s rulers since the 1979 revolution.
The protests quickly turned into a popular uprising in which people from different walks of life participated, whether they were students in schools and universities, doctors, lawyers, workers and athletes.