By Eric Vandenbroeck and co-workers

The current problem in Iran

Iran is the 17th largest country in the world. It measures 1,684,000 square kilometers. That means that its territory is larger than the combined territories of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal in Western Europe. Iran is the 16th most populous country in the world, with about 75 million people. Its population is larger than the populations of either France or the United Kingdom.

An earlier 12-day period, which saw the United States join Israel in bombing Iran, was the culmination of four decades of mistrust, antipathy, and confrontation.

Then on 28 December 2025, anti-government protests erupted in Iran, with two human rights groups reporting that at least 78 protesters had been killed. and more than 2,600 arrested during two weeks of anti-government protests that have rocked Iran, according to a US-based human rights group.

 The demonstrations have spread to more than 180 cities across all of Iran’s provinces, in a wave of nationwide unrest triggered by crippling economic conditions. 

Protesters have described enormous crowds and feelings of hope, but also brutal violence and “bodies piled up on each other” in a hospital. A doctor reported that hospitals are “extremely chaotic” and patients are terrified to be identified amid the crackdown by authorities.  

Protesters demonstrating against the Iranian regime have been gathering outside embassies across the world.

Underneath Protesters carrying an image of Reza Pahlavi

At least 78 protesters have been killed and more than 2,600 arrested during two weeks of anti-government protests that have rocked Iran, according to a US-based human rights group. The demonstrations have spread to more than 180 cities across all of Iran’s provinces, in a wave of nationwide unrest triggered by crippling economic conditions.

Protesters have described enormous crowds and feelings of hope, but also brutal violence and “bodies piled up on each other” in a hospital. A doctor said that hospitals are “extremely chaotic” and patients are terrified to be identified amid the crackdown by authorities.

US President Donald Trump has said the US is ready to help the Iranian people, without spelling out what that help might look like, posting a message in solidarity with those standing up to the Iranian regime.

Earlier, he threatened to attack Iran if security forces respond violently to protests, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US supports the country’s people. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed the US for inciting protests.

A doctor at a medical center in Tehran told the BBC: "The number of injured people and fatalities was very high. I saw one person who had been shot in the eye, with the bullet exiting from the back of his head.

"Around midnight, the center's doors were closed. A group of people broke the door and threw a man who had been shot inside, then left. But it was too late - he had died before reaching hospital and could not be saved."

The BBC also obtained a video and audio message from a medic at a hospital in the south-west city of Shiraz on Thursday, who said large numbers of injured were being brought in, and the hospital did not have enough surgeons to cope with the influx.

Staff at three hospitals in Iran have said that their facilities are overwhelmed with dead or injured patients, as major anti-government protests continue.

A medic at one Tehran hospital said there were "direct shots to the heads of the young people, to their hearts as well", while a doctor said an eye hospital in the capital had gone into crisis mode.

Two medical workers said they treated gunshot wounds from both live ammunition and pellets.

On Friday, the US repeated that killing protesters would be met with a military response. Iran blamed the US for turning peaceful protests into what it called "violent subversive acts and widespread vandalism".

Underneath a protester is seen climbing onto the balcony of the Iranian embassy in west London as hundreds gathered outside the building, waving flags and shouting anti-government slogans.

 

Thursday night produced similar accounts.

BBC Persian has verified that 70 bodies were brought to Poursina Hospital in Rasht city on Friday night. The morgue there was at full capacity, so the bodies were taken away. The authorities asked the relatives of the dead for 7 billion rials (£5,222; $7,000) to release them for burial, a hospital source said.

The BBC and most other international news organizations are unable to report from inside Iran, and the country has been under a near-total internet blackout since Thursday evening, making obtaining and verifying information difficult.

A hospital worker in Tehran described "very horrible scenes", saying there were so many wounded that staff did not have time to perform CPR.

"Around 38 people died. Many as soon as they reached the emergency beds... direct shots to the heads of the young people, to their hearts as well. Many of them didn't even make it to the hospital.

"The number was so large that there wasn't enough space in the morgue; the bodies were placed on top of one another.

"After the morgue became full, they stacked them on top of one another in the prayer room," she said.

The hospital worker said the dead or wounded were young people. "Couldn't look at many of them, they were 20-25 years old."

A doctor who contacted the BBC via a Starlink satellite connection on Friday night said Tehran's main eye specialist centre, Farabi Hospital, had gone into crisis mode with emergency services overwhelmed.

Non-urgent admissions and surgeries were suspended and staff called in to deal with emergency cases, he said.

Iran's security forces often use shotguns that fire cartridges filled with pellets during confrontations with protesters.

Another doctor from the city of Kashan in central Iran told the BBC many injured protesters had been hit in the eyes, and that his colleagues in hospitals across the city reported receiving many wounded people during Friday night's unrest.

At least 78 protesters have been killed and more than 2,600 arrested during two weeks of anti-government protests that have rocked Iran, according to a US-based human rights group. 

The demonstrations have spread to more than 180 cities across all of Iran’s provinces, in a wave of nationwide unrest triggered by crippling economic conditions.

Protesters have described enormous crowds and feelings of hope, but also brutal violence and “bodies piled up on each other” in a hospital. A doctor said that hospitals are “extremely chaotic” and patients are terrified to be identified amid the crackdown by authorities.

An internet blackout imposed by officials is also ongoing, according to a watchdog, but one Tehran resident said it has failed to quell protests.

What footage is emerging from Iran shows protesters in Tehran taking to the streets en masse on Friday night, burning vehicles, and a government building set alight in Karaj, near the capital.

The Iranian army has since said it will join security forces in defending public property.

It follows reports that Iranian security forces were spread thin as the unrest extended throughout the country.

Iranian authorities issued a series of coordinated warnings to protesters on Friday, with the National Security Council saying "decisive" legal action would be taken against "armed vandals".

Iranian police maintained that no one was killed in Tehran on Friday night, though they said 26 buildings were set on fire, causing extensive damage.

An eyewitness who joined the protests on Thursday and Friday nights in Tehran told BBC Persian Television that Gen Z Iranians have been instrumental in encouraging their parents and older people to come out and join the protest marches, urging them not to be afraid.

Several people who protested in Iran in recent days have told of enormous crowds as well as brutal violence on the streets of Tehran, with one woman saying she saw “bodies piled up on each other” in a hospital.

A woman in her mid-60s and a 70-year-old man described seeing people of all ages out in the streets of the Iranian capital on Thursday and Friday.

On Friday night, however, security forces brandishing military rifles killed “many people,” they said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. The protests, which began on December 28 as demonstrations in Tehran’s bazaars over rampant inflation, have since spread to more than 100 cities, posing the biggest challenge to the Iranian regime in years.

A hospital worker in Tehran described "very horrible scenes, saying there were so many wounded that staff did not have time to perform CPR, and that morgues did not have enough room to store the bodies of those who had died.

"Around 38 people died. Many as soon as they reached the emergency beds... direct shots to the heads of the young people, to their hearts as well. Many of them didn't even make it to the hospital."

The hospital worker said the dead or wounded were young people. "Couldn't look at many of them, they were 20-25 years old."

The protests have been the most widespread since an uprising in 2022 sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who was detained by morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.

More than 550 people were killed and 20,000 detained by security forces over several months, according to human rights groups.

 

 

For updates click hompage here