‘Deliberate targeting of vital body parts’: X-rays taken after Iran protests expose extent of catastrophic injuries

One X-ray from a file of medical records for patients treated at a single hospital in Iran during the recent protests. Almost 30 patients had been shot in the face with metal ‘birdshot’. Photograph: supplied

Across the planes of Anahita’s* face, white dots shine like a constellation. Some gleam from inside the sockets of her eyes, others are scattered over the young woman’s chin, forehead, cheekbones. A few float over the dark expanse of her brain.

Each dot represents a metal sphere, about 2-5mm in size, fired from the barrel of a shotgun and revealed by the X-ray camera for a CT scan. Shot from a distance, the projectiles, known as “birdshot”, spray widely, losing some of their momentum. At close range, they can crack bone, blast through the soft tissue of the face, and easily pierce the eyeball’s delicate globe. Anahita, who is in her early 20s, has lost at least one eye, possibly both.