Iran’s Association of Medical Academic Societies has warned against the recent forced retirement and sacking of over 100 doctors from residency admissions boards amidst a major national health crisis.

Speaking to reformist Ham-Mihan newspaper Sunday, Dr Babak Zamani, a member of the Medical Council of Iran’s board of directors, said most of the doctors who were forced to retire or sacked from the boards were among those who had signed statements supporting protests since September.

During the protests doctors and nurses condemned the use of ambulances by security forces for transporting detainees and their use of shotgun ‘birdshots’ that blinded or caused serious eye injuries among hundreds of protesters. They have also said more recently that they could not abide by some authorities’ demands recently to refuse services to women who defy hijab rules.

Security forces also attacked doctors and others with tear gas and shotgun 'birdshots' to disperse them during protests. A young doctor, Parisa Bahmani, was shot dead by security forces.

Dr Zamani also warned that the replacement of top academics forced to quit would be very difficult due to extensive emigration of medical staff in the past few years.

Dr Ali Tajernia, another member of the board of directors of the Association of Medical Academic Societies told Ham-Mihan newspaper that he suspects the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution may have been behind the plan. “It seems that they are after some sort of cultural revolution again,” he said.

Signatories of the statement challenging the move, who are among the most prominent academics in the country, suggested that there is an orchestrated plan to eliminate prominent doctors from residency admissions boards and urged the Medical Council of Iran and the media not to remain silent about these developments.

It comes amidst revelations that the country’s health sector is 60,000 personnel short across all fields.

The Medical Council of Iran, a recognized trade union for Iranian medical doctors, is responsible for licensing and regulating the medical profession. It has nearly 300,000 registered members who elect the president of the council. Like many other semi-independent organizations and trade unions, the government often tries to control the council and influence its elections.

In late October, the Medical Council prepared a statement condemning the government for undue pressure on the medical community during the protests and intended to publicly read the statement outside its headquarters in Tehran on October 26.

Security forces who were present in the area, however, attacked doctors and others with tear gas and shotgun 'birdshots' to disperse them and prevent the reading of the statement. A young doctor, Parisa Bahmani, was shot dead by security forces. 

Videos posted on social media showed protesters chanting "Death to Khamenei" and against clerical rule near the Medical Council building. Two days earlier, a gathering around the medical association of Shiraz, capital of southern Fars Province, had similarly been attacked with tear gas.