ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The sound of heavy gunfire in the city had finally quieted down that autumn night, as Doctor Shamal* and his team of medics discretely made their way into one of the houses that was sheltering two severely wounded teenage protesters.
Despite large numbers of Iranian security forces enclosing every nook and cranny of the city and terror reigning supreme, the team felt it was their national duty to assist the wounded, who could not risk seeking help at hospital as they stood the chance of being arrested for taking part in what the authorities had labeled as “riots”.
As Shamal and his team walked into the house, they were met with a view of two teenage brothers, aged 13 and 17, laying on a bed with their bodies pierced by shrapnel, and surrounded by their petrified family. The sight, even though a recurring one for Shamal and his colleagues, was enough to send shivers down their spines.
The doctor is one of many who carry out the risky task of providing medical assistance to protesters away from the eyes of the security forces.
If one had seen the wounds inflicted upon the brothers, it would not be presumptions to think that whoever shot them was acting based on a “shoot to kill” directive.
Iranian security forces have violently repressed the demonstrations that have taken the country by storm over the past four months. Sparked by the death of a young Kurdish woman, Zhina (Mahsa) Amini, while in the custody of Iran’s morality police, the demonstrations initially began as a protest against the country’s strict dress code for women, but have since turned into a full-blown revolution calling for the overthrow of the Islamic regime.
“Security forces are ruthlessly persisting in their widespread use of unlawful lethal force, exposing a clear intent to kill or maim protesters in their quest to quell the popular uprising at any cost,” said Amnesty International in a November report.
The regime’s brutal crackdown on the protests has led to a barrage of condemnations and sanctions from the international community.
“They had been shot with a shotgun at close-range and their bodies were filled with pellets,” the doctor told Rudaw English last week.
“On one hand we were worried because we knew there were way many more people wounded and we needed to be in contact with them; and on the other hand we were afraid that people of the neighborhood would recognize the wounded and we would be in danger”
Once they had removed the pellets from the critical parts of the brothers’ bodies and ensured that their lives were no longer in danger due to the wounds, Shamal and his team quickly left the house to avoid the risk of being detained by the security forces.
“There were still some pellets left that we could not touch, but at least we managed to remove the danger on their lives,” he added.
Shamal and his colleagues began treating wounded protesters during the 2019 Bloody November demonstrations in Iran, when he received a call informing him that one of his friends was injured and in need of urgent care.
Unfazed by the implications the decision might have on his life and safety, Shamal ran to the aid of his friend and with two of his colleagues conducted a mini-surgery on him inside a house and with limited resources, saving his life.
They would go on to help scores of wounded people throughout the protests.
“I came to the realization that the struggle process is our joint duty, and filling the gap of providing medicine and treatment for the protesters is an important necessity, that is why we decided to risk our lives and become an active medical team in the protests,” he said.
Nationwide protests against the government of former President Hassan Rouhani erupted in Iran in November of 2019, following a surge in the price of petrol. Some 1,500 protesters were killed by Iranian security forces during the November demonstrations, making it the bloodiest anti-regime movement in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
A new wave of protests spread across the Islamic republic in the aftermath of Amini’s death, sparking a violent crackdown by Iranian security forces, particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its paramilitary Basij.
Witnessing the IRGC’s violent reaction to the protests, Shamal and his team were once again struck by that sense of national obligation and once again decided to provide assistance to the protesters in need of medical treatment.
He believes that what differentiates the recent protests from the 2019 one is the severity of the sentences that the courts issue for the arrested protesters.
Iran has executed four individuals in connection with antigovernment protests this month, largely following questionable trials without any due process and has also handed death sentences to 17 other people, according to the UN.
Shamal says that his team has provided treatment for over 200 protesters since demonstrations began over four months ago, with Shamal himself participating in nearly 50 of them.
“I always try to behave normally with the wounded. I often tell them that these hardships are a part of the revolution. And if someone has a critical injury, I try to explain it to them simply in order to boost their confidence and stabilize their mental state. Otherwise they would be too scared and the treatment would be nearly impossible.”
Despite all the challenges and heartaches that this experiences produces, Shamal says he has never thought about quitting, as treating each person reminds him of why he joined this movement in the first place.
Nonetheless, nightmares about being detained by the IRGC still haunt the young doctor whenever he lays his head on a pillow, as he believes his arrest is almost inevitable.
Shamal urged the international community to support the protesters and “help in overthrowing the regime,” also calling for forming a joint opposition consisting of all the different components of Iran.
At least 525 protesters, including 71 children, have been killed and over 19,500 have been arrested since the protests began almost four months ago, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) on Sunday.
*The name Shamal is an alias chosen by the subject of the story in order to maintain his anonymity.
Rudaw English has withheld the exact location where the story takes place, as well as the identity of the special correspondent out of concerns for the writer's safety.
Translated and written by Chenar Chalak
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