'Very horrible scenes': Iran protests intensify as hospitals are overwhelmed; regime threatens death penalty

New Delhi: Hospitals in Iran are overwhelmed with dead and injured patients as nationwide anti-government protests intensified, while authorities warned protesters they could face capital punishment. Multiple reports have mentioned the death toll in hundreds while the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency has put the death toll at 72.

Staff at three hospitals told BBC that their facilities had entered crisis mode, treating large numbers of patients with gunshot wounds. Medical workers reported injuries caused by both live ammunition and pellets. One hospital worker in Tehran said the volume of casualties left staff with little time to provide emergency care, adding that morgues ran out of space.

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The protests, which began in Tehran about two weeks ago over economic hardship, have spread to more than 100 cities and towns across Iran. Hundreds of protesters are believed to have been killed or injured, with many more detained. Members of the security forces have also been killed, with one human rights group putting the number at 14.

Footage circulating on social media showed large crowds on the streets in Tehran on Friday night, with vehicles set on fire and a government building reportedly torched in Karaj, near the capital. Iran's army later said it would join security forces in defending public property as unrest spread across the country.

Iranian authorities issued coordinated warnings to protesters. The National Security Council said "decisive" legal action would be taken against what it described as "armed vandals". Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remained defiant in a televised address on Friday, saying: "The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of several hundred thousand honourable people and it will not back down in the face of those who deny this."

Iran's attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warned that anyone taking part in the protests would be considered an "enemy of God", a charge that carries the death penalty under Iranian law. State television reported that even those who "helped rioters" could face the charge, with prosecutors instructed to proceed without leniency.

The son of Iran's last shah, who was deposed by an Islamic revolution in 1979, described the protests as "magnificent" and urged Iranians to continue over the weekend.

"Our goal is no longer just to take to the streets. The goal is to prepare to seize and hold city centres," Reza Pahlavi said in a social media video. US-based Pahlavi also said he was preparing to return to the country.

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Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said killing protesters would be met with a military response. "Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States supports the protesters.

Iran has accused Washington of turning peaceful protests into "violent subversive acts".