We start our top story in Iran, where a violent raid on a hospital has intensified international outrage and exposed what critics describe as the brutality of Tehran’s ongoing crackdown on nationwide protests.
Iranian security forces stormed Imam Khomeini Hospital in the western province of Ilam, turning what should be a place of refuge into a scene of chaos and fear. A nurse at the hospital told SNEWS TV that security forces “behaved with savage brutality” as they moved in to arrest wounded protesters.
The violence followed clashes in Malekshahi County, where demonstrators protesting Iran’s worsening cost-of-living crisis were met with live gunfire. More than forty injured protesters were rushed to the hospital, many suffering gunshot wounds to the neck, chest, and shoulders. Two young men died before reaching medical care.
As doctors and nurses struggled to save lives, the hospital quickly became overwhelmed. Patients were treated in women’s wards and even pediatric units as blood shortages grew critical. Calls for donors were circulated on social media—but witnesses say members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, blocked donors from entering the hospital and detained several civilians.
According to medical staff and witnesses, security forces surrounded the hospital for more than 24 hours. On January 4th, they forced their way inside, firing tear gas, smashing glass doors, and storming hospital wards.
Witnesses say patients, family members, and medical staff were beaten with batons. Tear gas was launched inside the building, leaving many patients struggling to breathe—among them children in the pediatric ward. Several wounded protesters were reportedly dragged away to unknown locations, while others remain hospitalized, some reportedly shackled to their beds.
An official from the Ilam governor’s office, speaking anonymously, confirmed that some detainees were transferred to an IRGC facility outside the city.
The protests sweeping Iran were sparked by rising prices and economic hardship affecting the country’s more than 90 million people. What began as merchant shutdowns in Tehran late last month has spread nationwide—particularly across western provinces home to Kurdish and Lor minorities.
This is the largest wave of unrest since the 2022 protests following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini in morality police custody.
Human rights organizations have strongly condemned the hospital raid. Amnesty International called it a flagrant violation of international law, while the Kurdistan Human Rights Network warned that attacks on medical facilities may constitute crimes against humanity.
The U.S. State Department described the raid as “barbaric” and an “obvious crime against humanity.”
Iranian authorities initially claimed their presence at the hospital was necessary to restore order, a claim medical staff have firmly denied. President Masoud Pezeshkian has since ordered an investigation, and Iran’s parliament says it will review reports of security forces entering hospitals.
For those who lived through the violence, the damage runs deeper than broken glass. One nurse told SNEWS TV she had always believed hospitals were sacred places—but said the events in Ilam changed her forever.
As protests continue to grow, Iran’s crisis shows no sign of easing.
Reporting by Carl Montel.
