A hospital in central Tehran was inadvertently hit by tear gas during clashes between demonstrators and police on the tenth day of protests in Iran. The incident was reported by the Iranian news agency ISNA, quoted by Agence France-Presse, BTA reports.
According to the agency, the tear gas was used in an alley in the immediate vicinity of the “Sina“ hospital to disperse the crowd. After footage of the incident was shared on social networks and caused a wide response, ISNA specified that the protesters instinctively retreated, which led to the targeting of some of the substances used towards the building of the medical facility. The information refers to a statement from Tehran University of Medicine.
The “Sina“ Hospital is located about two kilometers from the Grand Bazaar in Tehran - the economic heart of the country and one of the main sites of yesterday's clashes. It was there that security forces used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.
According to local media, this is the first such case since the beginning of the protest movement on December 28, in which serious clashes have occurred during the day and in the very center of the capital. Until now, demonstrations in Tehran have been mainly in the evening and without serious incidents.
The protests, which initially began because of the high cost of living, gradually grew into an expression of political demands and covered different parts of the country. In western Iran, serious clashes with casualties have been recorded in recent days. This is the case in Malekshahi, an area of about 20,000 people with a significant Kurdish community, where at least one police officer and one security official were killed.
On Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called for an investigation into the first incident at a hospital, which, according to NGOs, led to clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement officials.