Hundreds of gunshot eye injuries found in one Iranian hospital amid brutal crackdown on protests

"An ophthalmologist in Tehran has documented more than 400 eye injuries from gunshots in a single hospital, as overwhelmed medical staff struggle to cope with the toll of an increasingly violent crackdown on nationwide protests by Iranian authorities. Three doctors, in messages forwarded to the Guardian on Monday, described overwhelmed hospitals and emergency wings overflowing with protesters who have been shot."

"Medical staff said that the gunshot wounds were mostly concentrated on protesters' eyes and head a tactic that rights groups said authorities used against demonstrators in the country's 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests. [Security forces] are deliberately shooting at the head and the eyes. They want to damage the head and the eyes so they can no longer see, the same thing they did in [2022], said a doctor in Tehran."

"The protests have alarmed authorities, and on Thursday night, they shut off internet and mobile access in the country, cutting the Iranian people off from the rest of the world. Rights groups have accused the government of exploiting the media blackout to carry out a brutal crackdown against protesters. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the protests more than 90% of which were demonstrators themselves and over 16,700 people have been arrested, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said."

An ophthalmologist in Tehran documented more than 400 eye injuries from gunshots at a single hospital. Three doctors reported overwhelmed hospitals and emergency wings overflowing with shot protesters. Medical staff said gunshot wounds were mostly concentrated on protesters' eyes and heads, a tactic rights groups said authorities used in 2022. A doctor said security forces deliberately shoot at the head and eyes, causing many patients to require eye removal and become blinded. Protests that began on 28 December over a currency dip became the largest anti-government movement since 2009. Authorities shut off internet and mobile access, and HRANA reported over 2,000 killed and more than 16,700 arrested.

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