- Warning: Graphic content
Two Iranian nurses were gang-raped and brutally tortured by regime security agents because they treated wounded protesters during anti-government demonstrations in January, a report has claimed.
Members of Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who have close ties to the country’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, slaughtered thousands of protesters before killing and sexually abusing medics who helped the injured at Tehran’s Rajaei Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Center, it is reported.
One nurse, 33, was held in detention and said she had been repeatedly gang-raped by three IRGC agents at a time for three days, according to Iran International.
The sexual assaults were so severe doctors had to remove part of her intestine and her uterus may have to be taken out. She also has to live with a colostomy bag.
The woman is so traumatised she begged surgeons to let her die and she is currently tied to the hospital bed to stop her from harming herself as she remains under the supervision of IRGC security forces.
Another nurse who was arrested and gang-raped in custody has been fitted with a colostomy bag and doctors removed her uterus due to extreme bleeding.
The opposition outlet also reported the nurse was forced to sign a document saying she married one of the IRGC agents and her family had to pay him a large fee to secure her release.
She also had to sign a statement which blamed her rape and abuse on ‘rioters’, sources said.
Two Iranian nurses were reportedly gang-raped and brutally tortured by regime security agents because they treated wounded protesters during anti-government demonstrations in January. (Stock image)
One nurse, 33, was held in detention and repeatedly gang-raped by three IRGC agents at a time for three days, according to Iran International. (Pictured: IRGC guards drag an emaciated prisoner, at Evin prison in Tehran)
The nurses had provided medical treatment to injured demonstrators who took part in nationwide protests against the cruel regime in January.
The hospital, based in the Vali-Asr area of the capital, received waves of injured protesters, including those shot by IRGC forces, on the evening of January 8.
IRGC agents warned hospital staff against helping the wounded. But this was ignored by 14 of 27 nurses.
Two male nurses among were arrested after expressing sympathy with the wounded.
As nurses helped the injured, IRGC forces entered the hospital and fired at patients, according to Iran International.
Two nurses who tried to treat the wounded were killed, while others were beaten and arrested.
Staff were then warned not to touch the bodies of the dead, leaving corpses to rot.
The bodies of the two dead nurses were later found in Kahrizak, where rows of body bags were piled as the government massacred thousands for protesting.
Iran’s savage Revolutionary Guards have repeatedly used sexual violence to punish dissenters, human rights groups claim.
Sara Hossain, chair of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran established by the UN Human Rights Council, said: ‘The information we have gathered points to severe human rights violations, including unnecessary and disproportionate use of force, resulting in arbitrary killings, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and forced confessions.’
Two girls, aged 15 and 17, were reportedly raped by soldiers while being held in detention during the January protests.
The Islamic Republic’s ruthless jailers have long used extreme violence to spread fear among those who dare stand up to the regime.
Amnesty International has documented cases in which detainees were suspended by their hands and feet from a pole in a painful position referred to by interrogators as ‘chicken kebab’, forcing the body into extreme stress for prolonged periods.
Other reported methods include waterboarding, mock executions by hanging or firing squad, sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, sensory overload using light or noise, and the forcible removal of fingernails or toenails.
Families and residents gather at the Kahrizak Coroner’s Office confronting rows of body bags as they search for relatives killed during the regime’s violent crackdown on protests in January
Iran was gripped by nationwide protests against the government in January. (Pictured: Protesters set fire to a car in Tehran)
In 2024, Iranian authorities whipped a woman 74 times for ‘violating public morals’ and fined her for refusing to wear a hijab while walking through the streets of Tehran
The organisation says such torture is routinely used to extract ‘confessions’ before any legal proceedings have taken place, with the Iranian state broadcaster airing footage of detainees making televised admissions that rights groups say are coerced.
Sexual violence has also been documented as a method of abuse. A Kurdish woman told Human Rights Watch that in November 2022 two men from the security forces raped her while a female agent held her down and facilitated the assault.
A 24-year-old Kurdish man from West Azerbaijan province said he was tortured and raped with a baton by intelligence forces in a secret detention centre.
And a 30-year-old man from East Azerbaijan province said he was blindfolded, beaten and gang raped by security officers inside a van.
Another detainee said that when he told interrogators he was not affiliated with any political party and would no longer protest, officers tore his clothes apart and raped him until he lost consciousness.