Iran's crackdown on nurses who have staged unprecedented peaceful protests over poor working conditions in the past month has prompted new concern from the United States and a global federation of nurses' associations.

In one of two statements sent exclusively to VOA on Thursday, a State Department official said the Biden administration is "closely monitoring protests by nurses and other medical personnel in Iran and is concerned by reports that many peaceful protesters are being unjustly arrested and sentenced."

The U.S. official said the reports are "particularly worrisome given the [Iranian] regime's brutal history of suppressing peaceful protests, including its continued use of harsh sentences against those who participated in the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' protests" of 2022.

In the other statement, the International Council of Nurses, or ICN, CEO Howard Catton said the Geneva-based federation is "gravely concerned about these reports coming out of Iran about nurses taking part in peaceful protests being victimized."

Catton said the federation has been in contact with its Iranian member, the state-run Iranian Nursing Organization, and other nurses' groups in the country regarding their efforts to raise concerns about staff shortages and low pay. "What is clear from all the reports we are receiving is that the protection of nurses' rights and the safety of their patients are paramount," he said.

Protests in 21 cities

Iranian nurses began going on strike at the Imam Ali hospital in the northern city of Karaj on July 31, according to a Telegram post by the Free Union of Iranian Workers, a labor group that Iran's Islamist rulers refuse to recognize. Since then, VOA's Persian Service has monitored credible reports of peaceful strikes and protest gatherings by nurses spreading to at least 50 state-run hospitals in 21 Iranian cities.

The head of the Iranian Nurses' House, a state-approved labor union, told state news agency Khabar Online in an August 21 interview that it is the first time in the 100-year history of modern nursing in Iran that nurses have protested by going on strike.

"Nurses know that when they are on strike, they are threatened with being fired. It means the situation has reached a point where it does not matter to the nurses that they will be fired if they go on strike," said Mohammad Sharifi Moghaddam, secretary-general of the labor union.

Iranian Health Minister Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, who took office last week as part of the Cabinet of newly inaugurated President Masoud Pezeshkian, was quoted by state media as saying the government made a "first" transfer of funds to universities of medical sciences earlier this week in response to the nurses' demands. The state media reports did not elaborate.

State media also quoted Zafarghandi as promising to follow up on the financial expectations of the nurses to the "best of the country's ability." Iranian officials have responded to other trade union protests with similar promises in recent years, while leaving many of those promises unfulfilled.

In one of the most intense days of protests so far, VOA Persian obtained credible reports and social media images of nurses going on strike in nine Iranian cities on Tuesday: Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, Hamedan, Ilam, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Nishapur, Tehran and Yazd.

VOA cannot independently verify the reports because it is barred from reporting inside Iran.

One social media video from Tuesday showed Iranian security agents shoving and detaining several medical workers at a protest in Bushehr. Another video showed a large presence of security forces at a nurses' protest in Tehran.

Nurses arrested

International rights groups have reported arbitrary arrests of several nurses in Iran in recent weeks in connection to the protests.

Sahar Motallebi, a Tehran University medical school graduate and Sweden-based independent global health researcher, said in a VOA interview that Iranian authorities are falsely accusing the protesting nurses of political crimes in order to prosecute them.

In a notable difference from the Woman, Life, Freedom protests, the nurses have not been observed chanting slogans calling for the downfall of the Islamic republic. "These nurses are very smartly and carefully making it clear in their protests and social media content that their campaign is absolutely non-political and only about their civil rights," she said.

In the statement to VOA, the State Department official said the U.S. "urges the Iranian regime to recognize the vital role that peaceful protest – including organized labor actions – plays in giving voice to the concerns of ordinary working people."

ICN's Catton said he "urges all parties [in Iran] to come together to begin talks and negotiate an agreement that works for both sides."

"Our message is firstly one of solidarity with all nurses in Iran," Catton said. "Secondly, [it is] a call to all those in power to do their utmost to ensure that nurses are properly protected and supported, including with sufficient resources and investment to deliver safe high quality patient care."

Motallebi said the nurses appear to have retained broad public support in Iran in part by ensuring that urgent care facilities maintain minimum staffing levels while they participate in strike action. "They have done this to avoid having a negative impact on community health," she said.

Mohammad Kazem Attari, a Tehran University-trained physician and U.S.-based advocate for social justice in healthcare, said in a message to VOA that most Iranians sympathize with the nurses because they understand the protests are a response to intolerable conditions that endanger the lives of both nurses and patients.

"The public is beginning to see that the nurses' demands for better conditions and fair pay are essential not only for the nurses themselves but also for the overall quality of healthcare for the general population of Iran," Attari said.

VOA's Persian Service contributed to this report.

(VOA/SSH)