A crackdown on nationwide protests across Iran escalated sharply after regime security forces began using live ammunition against civilians, according to a doctor who treated wounded demonstrators. The physician, who later fled the country, told the Center for Human Rights in Iran that authorities shifted from pellet guns to lethal force as protests intensified.
The crackdown followed demonstrations that erupted on Dec. 28 over economic hardship, rising prices, and inflation before expanding into broader anti-government unrest. In the early days, the doctor said injuries largely came from pellet shotguns. “Law enforcement forces were firing pellet shotguns that scatter pellets,” he said, adding that he received “five or six calls per day” about pellet wounds to the back, head, or scalp.
That pattern changed after authorities imposed nationwide internet blackouts on Jan. 8. “From about 8:10 to 8:20 pm, the sound of bullets, gunfire, screams, and sporadic explosions could be heard,” the doctor said. “When I arrived, I saw that the nature of the injuries and the number of gunshot wounds had changed completely.”
The doctor described close-range gunfire and fatal injuries. “The situation was totally different. Shots from close range, injuries leading to death,” he said. Calls for medical advice no longer involved pellet wounds. “People were saying they had been shot, with bullets entering one side of the body and exiting the other. Live ammunition.”
In Isfahan, a major protest hub, he reported blood-soaked streets. “A large amount of blood, about a liter, had pooled in the gutter,” he said. He later heard automatic weapons. “I heard DShK heavy machine guns. I heard PK machine guns,” he said, adding, “The trauma cases I saw were brutal, shoot-to-kill.”
Human rights groups estimate thousands were killed. The account comes as President Donald Trump voiced support for Iranian protesters and said he canceled meetings with Iranian officials until the crackdown ends.
