The sources, based in Tehran, requested anonymity for fear of retribution.
The nurses were among medical staff at Tehran’s Rajaei Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Center who treated people injured during the massive protests that erupted in late December and spread into early January, drawing millions into the streets and prompting a crackdown that led to mass arrests and at least 36,500 deaths.
Sexual torture and severe injuries
One of the nurses, a 33-year-old woman, was repeatedly abused and raped during detention, according to informed sources who spoke with Iran International.
Sources said agents subjected her to various forms of sexual torture.
In addition to assaulting her with their fingers, agents raped her in groups of two or three over consecutive days.
They also raped her by inserting a foreign object into her anus, causing severe bleeding, the sources said.
In another form of torture, agents took her along with dozens of other detained women to an elevated place and then pushed them all into a small pit-like space, the sources said.
The injuries inflicted on the nurse were so severe that doctors had to remove part of her intestine, and she now lives with a colostomy bag, one source said.
Her uterus also suffered severe tearing and she has so far undergone two surgeries. Doctors may ultimately be forced to remove her uterus completely, the source added.
Before she was transferred to the operating room, the nurse repeatedly asked doctors not to allow her to survive and said that if she came out of surgery alive, she would take her own life, the source said.
According to an eyewitness, her psychological condition is so severe that her hands are currently tied to the hospital bed to prevent her from harming herself while she remains under the supervision of security forces.
The second nurse was also subjected to gang rape in custody, according to the sources.
Part of her intestine was severely damaged, and she has also been fitted with a colostomy bag, the witnesses said.
Due to severe bleeding, doctors removed her uterus completely.
Sources said the family of one of the nurses was forced to pay significant sums of money to an intelligence officer to secure her release.
According to the sources, a document was then prepared stating that the woman had entered into a temporary marriage with one of the agents, a step described as intended to create the conditions for her release.
She was also required to sign a pledge stating that after her release she would declare that she had been abused and raped by “rioters,” the sources said.
Hospital crackdown during protests
The hospital, located in the Vali-Asr area of Tehran, faced a wave of wounded people late on the evening of Jan. 8.
From around 9 p.m. onward, large numbers of individuals injured by live ammunition were transferred to the hospital.
Agents involved in the crackdown on protesters told hospital staff not to provide medical treatment to the wounded, according to sources.
Among the 27 personnel and nurses present in the ward that night, 14 refused the order and attempted to treat the injured.
Sources said two male nurses among them were arrested after protesting the situation and expressing sympathy with the wounded.
Among the 14 members of the medical staff who resisted the order, only seven female nurses were able to continue providing emergency care for several hours.
According to information received by Iran International, these seven nurses continued treating the wounded until around 11 p.m. to midnight.
Security forces later entered the hospital and fired at some of the wounded patients.
When nurses and hospital staff protested the shooting, they were beaten and transferred to the lower floor of the hospital and into a storage area.
Witnesses said that among the seven nurses, two were shot and killed in front of the others.
Staff were warned not to touch the bodies, and the corpses were left where they lay.
According to information received by Iran International, the families of the two nurses found their bodies several days later in Kahrizak.
Five other female nurses were arrested and transferred to detention, and their families had no information about their situation for weeks.
International concern over sexual violence against detainees
Human rights groups have warned that detainees arrested during the protests face a high risk of torture and sexual violence.
Amnesty International said thousands of people detained in connection with the nationwide unrest were at risk of torture and other ill-treatment in custody, including sexual violence.
The United Nations has also expressed concern about Iran’s violent crackdown on the protests and the treatment of detainees, including reports of torture and sexual violence.
Sara Hossain, chair of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran established by the UN Human Rights Council, said the mission had gathered evidence pointing to serious human rights violations committed by Iranian authorities.
“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,” Hossain said in remarks to the Human Rights Council in late January.
Previous reports and investigations by Iran International have also documented allegations of sexual violence against detainees during protest crackdowns in Iran.
Other allegations of sexual violence against detainees have also emerged during the same wave of nationwide protests
Last month, Iran International reported that female protesters detained during the protests on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9 were raped and sexually assaulted while in custody.
Two teenage girls, aged 15 and 17, who were arrested during protests on January 8, were raped by on duty soldiers at a detention facility, local sources told Iran International.
In a separate account, sources detailed the experience of a young woman and another 17-year-old teenager.
According to the sources, the two were held in an informal detention center which they both described as belonging to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
Sources said the victims were raped by individuals at the site during their detention.
According to sources, the severity of the trauma has led some of these victims to attempt suicide.
Another year-long investigation by Iran International found systematic and widespread use of sexual violence by security forces against detained protesters during the 2022 uprising, sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Zhina Amini.
In exclusive interviews conducted for the investigation, six protesters aged between 19 and 43 said they were raped or sexually abused shortly after their detention, including inside police vehicles, at covert locations and in detention centers.
Sexual abuses committed by Iranian security forces were not isolated incidents, but rather part of a widespread, systematic strategy to stifle dissent, as evidenced by numerous testimonies provided to Iran International.
While sexual abuse indiscriminately targeted women of all ages, testimonies also unveiled that authorities employed sexual violence as a calculated tactic to suppress and intimidate male protesters.
The Iranian authorities’ use of physical and sexual violence to suppress dissent is a longstanding tactic, dating back to the establishment of the Islamic Republic.
