BBC:

Soroush Pakzad, Roja Assadi, and Helen Sullivan

Staff at three hospitals in Iran have told the BBC their facilities are overwhelmed with dead or injured patients, as major anti-government protests continue.

A medic at one Tehran hospital said there were "direct shots to the heads of the young people, to their hearts as well", while a doctor said an eye hospital in the capital had gone into crisis mode.

Two of the medical workers who spoke to the BBC said they treated gunshot wounds from both live ammunition and pellets.

On Friday, the US repeated that killing protesters would be met with a military response. Iran blamed the US for turning peaceful protests into what it called "violent subversive acts and widespread vandalism".

Reacting to the latest developments, President Trump posted on social media: "Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!"

The protests began in the capital Tehran a fortnight ago over economic hardship.

They have since spread to more than 100 cities and towns across all of Iran's provinces. Hundreds of protesters are believed to have been killed or injured, and many more detained. BBC Persian has confirmed the identities of 26, including six children.

Members of the security forces have also been killed, with one human rights group putting the number at 14.

BBC Persian has verified that 70 bodies were brought to Poursina Hospital in Rasht city on Friday night. The morgue there was at full capacity, so the bodies were taken away. The authorities asked the relatives of the dead for 7 billion rials (£5,222; $7,000) to release them for burial, a hospital source said.

The BBC and most other international news organisations are unable to report from inside Iran, and the country has been under a near-total internet blackout since Thursday evening, making obtaining and verifying information difficult.

A hospital worker in Tehran described "very horrible scenes", saying there were so many wounded that staff did not have time to perform CPR.

"Around 38 people died. Many as soon as they reached the emergency beds... direct shots to the heads of the young people, to their hearts as well. Many of them didn't even make it to the hospital.

"The number was so large that there wasn't enough space in the morgue; the bodies were placed on top of one another.

"After the morgue became full, they stacked them on top of one another in the prayer room," she said.

The hospital worker said the dead or wounded were young people.
"Couldn't look at many of them, they were 20-25 years old."

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