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Tear gas used near Tehran's Sina hospital during Iran protests, says report
Security forces in Iran have frequently deployed tear gas to clear protesters during the sometimes-deadly demonstrations triggered by the rising cost of living.
Tear gas fired during demonstrations in Tehran drifted towards a hospital but did not target it deliberately, Iranian media reported late Tuesday.
Security forces in Iran have frequently deployed tear gas to clear protesters during the sometimes-deadly demonstrations triggered by the rising cost of living.
To disperse a crowd, "tear gas was used in the alley adjacent to the Sina Hospital" in the centre of Tehran, the ISNA news agency reported, citing a statement from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences.
The Sina Hospital is affiliated with the university and is about two kilometres (about one mile) from Tehran's Grand Bazaar, the country's economic hub and the scene of incidents on Tuesday between protesters and police, who used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
"The natural reaction of the protesters is to move (the gas) away from the gathering place. As a result, some of this substance unintentionally drifted towards the hospital," it said.
It added that the claim that tear gas was deliberately fired into the hospital "does not correspond to the facts".
The protests were triggered by anger over the rising cost of living, with the Iranian rial losing value again on Tuesday to reach another record low against foreign currencies.
The protest wave began on December 28 with a shutdown by merchants in Tehran. They have since spread to other areas, especially the west, which is home to Kurdish and Lor minority groups.
It is the most serious protest movement in Islamic republic since the 2022-2023 nationwide rallies sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.
The demonstrations have yet to reach the scale of the 2022-2023 movement, let alone that of the mass 2009 street protests that followed disputed elections.
But against the background of an economic crisis and on the heels of the 12-day war against Israel in June, they present a new challenge for Iran's leadership.
