LONDON: A UK Iranian health worker endured hours of surgery and was left with shotgun pellets lodged in his body after Iranian security forces fired at him using live ammunition at point-blank range in an attempt to “end his life,” The Guardian reported.
In an interview, the man, who declined to be named for safety reasons, said that he underwent more than 17 hours of surgery to save his life, and that five pellets remain in his body.
His account was confirmed by two senior UK doctors who witnessed his treatment in hospital.
The man traveled to Tehran in October last year to visit family, but soon joined growing anti-government street protests that followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
He was fired at in a protest at the end of October after attempting to help a teenage girl who was being assaulted by local security officers.
The man said that after he realized he was unable to help the girl, he began to walk away. But a plainclothes officer then hit him with a baton, and he was left lying on the ground while slipping out of consciousness.
It was then that the man saw at least two police officers firing at him with shotguns.
Shotgun pellets caused severe wounds across the man’s body, but he decided to avoid checking in to a local hospital out of fear of being arrested by authorities.
After his initial wounds were treated by local protesters using torn-up clothing as bandages, he was taken by taxi to a family home, where a team of colleagues performed life-saving surgery.
The man said: “I nearly died in the process of treatment and had multiple complications such as (with my) ileum, blood clots or low (blood oxygen) saturation, as well as fractures to my ribs.
“I only survived because fearless people helped me on the scene and brave doctors in Iran took extreme risks for my survival.”
The makeshift team managed to remove several pellets, and a further two were removed after the man returned to the UK.
However, five pellets remain deeply lodged in his body, and could cause significant nerve damage if removed.
The man has been left unable to work as a result of his injuries.
He said: “I would regard this treatment of an unarmed and nonviolent protester such as myself as equivalent to a war crime,” he said.
“My treatment was really extreme and my best guess is that I am not the only person who has been hit like that, but maybe not every one was lucky enough to survive to report how they have been treated.”
Richard Kuper, an orthopedic consultant who examined the man’s injuries after his return to the UK, said: “It does appear that he was assaulted in a way that (shows) the Iranian security services clearly were trying to end his life.
“It seems they nearly succeeded, and if it had not been for the management received by a friend he may well not be here today.”
UK Iranian health worker suffers near-fatal shotgun injury in Tehran protests
https://arab.news/6bvee
UK Iranian health worker suffers near-fatal shotgun injury in Tehran protests
- Man left with five pellets lodged in body after officers ‘clearly try to end his life’
- ‘I only survived because fearless people helped me and brave doctors took extreme risks for my survival,’ The Guardian told
Russian forces begin pulling out of bases in northeast Syria
- Despite having been on opposite sides of the battle lines during the civil war, the new rulers in Damascus have taken a pragmatic approach to relations with Moscow
QAMISHLI, Syria: Russian forces have begun pulling out of positions in northeast Syria in an area still controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces after the group lost most of its territory in an offensive by government forces.
Associated Press journalists visited one base next to the Qamishli airport Tuesday and found it guarded by SDF fighters who said the Russians had begun moving their equipment out in recent days.
Inside what had been living quarters for the soldiers was largely empty, with scattered items left behind, including workout equipment, protein powder and some clothing.
Ahmed Ali, an SDF fighter deployed at the facility, said the Russian forces began evacuating their positions around the airport five or six days ago, withdrawing their equipment via a cargo plane.
“We don’t know if its destination was Russia or the Hmeimim air base,” he said, referring to the main Russian base on Syria’s coast. “They still have a presence in Qamishli and have been evacuating bit by bit.”
A UN humanitarian convoy from Damascus reached Qamishli on Tuesday, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.
“It delivered food, warm clothes and blankets, among other supplies,” he told UN reporters. “More convoys are planned in the coming days.”
Dujarric said the UN is also continuing to distribute food, bread and cash elsewhere including displacement sites.
There has been no official statement from Russia about the withdrawal of its forces from Qamishli.
Russia has built relations with the new central Syrian government in Damascus since former President Bashar Assad was ousted in December 2024 in a rebel offensive led by now-interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa — despite the fact that Moscow was a close ally of Assad.
Moscow’s scorched-earth intervention in support of Assad a decade ago turned the tide of Syria’s civil war at the time, keeping Assad in his seat. Russia didn’t try to counter the rebel offensive in late 2024 but gave asylum to Assad after he fled the country.
Despite having been on opposite sides of the battle lines during the civil war, the new rulers in Damascus have taken a pragmatic approach to relations with Moscow. Russia has retained a presence at its air and naval bases on the Syrian coast.
Al-Sharaa is expected to visit Moscow on Wednesday and meet with Putin.
Fighting broke out early this month between the SDF and government forces after negotiations over a deal to merge their forces together broke down. A ceasefire is now in place and has been largely holding.
After the expiration of a four-day truce Saturday, the two sides announced the ceasefire had been extended by another 15 days.
Syria’s defense ministry said in a statement that the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants who had been held in prisons in northeastern Syria to detention centers in Iraq.
