New Reports Expose Iran’s Shocking Use of Rape, Torture to Crush Protests

Iranian security forces raped and tortured medical staff who treated wounded anti-regime protesters during the country’s nationwide uprising in January, targeting them in a campaign of intimidation against those aiding demonstrators, new reports reveal.

According to the London-based outlet Iran International, medical staff and other hospital personnel who treated people injured during the massive protests that erupted in late December and continued into early January before being crushed were detained by security agents and subjected to torture, repeated gang rape, and other forms of abuse while in custody.

In one of several shocking testimonies, two medical workers at Tehran’s Rajaei Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center recounted the horrors they suffered after being detained while treating injured protesters.

The two nurses were reportedly subjected to repeated sexual abuse and torture during detention, with one sustaining injuries so severe that part of her intestine had to be removed, leaving her to live with a colostomy bag.

After already undergoing two surgeries for severe uterine tearing, she may ultimately face complete removal of her uterus.

Detained and kept in isolation for several weeks, the other nurse — who also defied orders not to treat wounded protesters — suffered injuries so severe that she ultimately had her uterus completely removed.

Iran International also reported that the family of one of the nurses was forced to pay a substantial sum to an intelligence officer to secure her release after several weeks in detention. 

She was even coerced into signing a statement falsely claiming she had been abused and raped by “rioters.”

According to the report, security forces and local police involved in the crackdown explicitly warned hospital staff against treating wounded protesters, with witnesses reporting that agents would arrest or physically assault medical workers who refused to comply.

Echoing other international reports, Iran International detailed that security forces allegedly stormed hospitals, opened fire on wounded patients, and even shot nurses trying to provide treatment.

As Iranian authorities sought to crush dissent and reassert control, human rights groups and international organizations repeatedly warned that protesters detained during the unrest faced a high risk of torture and sexual violence, with some estimates suggesting that as many as 30,000 people may have been killed on the streets of Iran on Jan. 8 and 9 alone.

In a separate new report released Monday, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, Mai Sato, exposed the regime’s widespread use of physical and sexual violence to crush dissent during the nationwide protests that began on Dec. 28 last year, warning that such brutal tactics remain a longstanding tool of control.

The UN official called on Iranian authorities to immediately stop their brutal crackdown on civilians, release everyone detained for exercising fundamental rights, restore full internet access, and allow human rights organizations to carry out their work without interference.

According to the new report, the brutal crackdown saw protesters — including children — shot at close range or severely beaten by security forces.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators, including medical professionals and lawyers, were also arbitrarily detained. Many were held incommunicado, denied legal representation, forced to deliver televised confessions, and some — even minors — now face the death penalty.

“In practice, lethal force has been a consistent feature of the state’s response to protests over decades,” the report said, referring to past demonstrations in which security forces deployed assault rifles or shotguns firing metal pellets at crowds

Sato also presented evidence showing that security forces raided hospitals, arrested wounded protesters, assaulted medical staff, and subjected families of the killed or detained to intimidation and interference with their memorials.

“Their grief is compounded by state intimidation and the denial of truth,” she said.

According to the report’s latest findings, the regime’s human rights violations reflect systemic patterns rather than isolated incidents, highlighting both the failure to investigate excessive force and the growing securitization of responses to civilian protests.

“I am deeply concerned about the welfare of those in custody and the heightened risk of violations in the absence of independent scrutiny,” Sato said.