A new investigation has revealed how Iranian security forces relied on global supply chains and intermediary companies to obtain weapons later turned on protesters during the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising.
The joint report by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center and independent news outlet IranWire describes how Turkish, European and North American firms, often through shadowy networks and front companies, supplied or enabled the transfer of shotguns, ammunition and paintball guns used to quell street unrest.
“Shooting protesters in the eyes is a deliberate form of torture meant to instill fear. Hundreds of cases involving teenagers and adults reveal a state-sanctioned pattern, with weapons supplied and repurposed through state-linked channels," it said.
"Targeting eyes and faces reflects a calculated effort to incapacitate protesters and create cautionary examples. These acts violate ICCPR Article 7, constitute crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute and breach domestic firearms laws."
The report argues that while the Iranian government has long imported arms despite sanctions, the 2022 protests marked a shift.
Security forces deliberately deployed so-called less-lethal weapons not as a means of crowd control but as tools of intimidation and punishment. Shotguns, pellet rounds, paintball guns and tear gas canisters were routinely fired at eyes, leaving many protesters permanently blinded or disfigured.
Doctors in Tehran and Kurdistan reported hundreds of eye injuries, suggesting the practice was widespread and state sanctioned.
Investigators documented 134 victims across 24 provinces, with an average age of 29. At least 114 were struck by pellets, nine by paintball rounds, and nine by direct hits from tear gas canisters.
The report said that these numbers represent only a fraction of the total, with many victims avoiding hospitals for fear of arrest.
'Complicity'
The companies named include Turkish shotgun makers Hatsan, Akkar and Sarsilmaz, whose Escort, Karatay and SAR-branded models were traced inside Iran.
European firm Cheddite was linked to ammunition identified by headstamps recovered from protest scenes. Paintball markers produced by Tippmann in the United States and DYE Precision in Canada were also diverted into the hands of police and Basij forces.
These products reached Iran through Turkish intermediaries such as Yavascalar YAF, as well as front companies tied to the FARAJA Cooperative Foundation and the Defense Industries Organization.
Some procurement was disguised under the cover of sports, with the Iran Paintball Association and other federations providing channels to skirt restrictions.
The report warns that such transfers may constitute corporate complicity in human rights abuses under international law. It highlights potential breaches of export control rules and exposure to secondary sanctions, particularly where companies made sales despite Iran’s documented record of violent crackdowns.
The authors call for urgent action, including classifying shotguns and paintball markers as dual-use products subject to strict end-user verification, closer scrutiny of financial intermediaries including crypto platforms and new pathways for victims to seek justice.
They argue that without accountability, foreign firms and evasive intermediaries will continue to arm Iran’s security forces with tools of repression.
