A two-year investigation by FRANCE 24 has revealed that hunting cartridges produced by the French-Italian ammunition manufacturer Cheddite were used in Iran during the violent crackdown on the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests in 2022. The investigation uncovers how these cartridges are widely available in Iran, despite European sanctions imposed in 2011. It appears the ammunition may have been routed through Turkey, where Cheddite at one point held shares in a weapons manufacturing company. This investigation, broadcast by FRANCE 24, sheds light on the dealings that allowed the ammunition to reach Iranian soil, despite international sanctions.
In the autumn of 2022, protests engulfed Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini, who was killed by the country's notorious morality police following her arrest for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly. The regime's response was brutal: security forces opened fire on protesters with live ammunition. According to the UN, at least 550 people were killed over the course of six months.
By analyzing videos posted on social media, the FRANCE 24 Observers team was able to confirm the repeated use of shotguns by the Iranian security forces. Shotguns use cartridges that are packed with metal pellets or small plastic balls of varying sizes that scatter upon discharge, causing widespread damage to anyone within range.
Bodies riddled with pellets, victims blinded
In the dozens of photographs of victims we collected, their bodies had been pierced by dozens, sometimes even hundreds of pellets. Many of the victims had lost an eye, some even both.
A member of the Basij, the paramilitary militia used by the regime as a key tool of repression, agreed to speak to us anonymously. "Members of my unit aim for the chest or head to kill," he explained. "When you shoot with the metal pellets, the target is obliterated. If you hit someone, it can blind or paralyze them. At close range, it can be fatal."
Read moreIranian police 'aim to kill' using shotguns to repress protests
The photographs and witness accounts gathered during the investigation clearly demonstrate the extensive use of hunting ammunition in the violent repression of protesters. According to Aymeric Elluin, an arms advocacy officer at Amnesty International: "This type of lethal ammunition should never be used against protesters. In some cases, the use of such force could amount to acts of torture, which is prohibited under international law."
EU-made cartridges found in Iran
To find out more about the weapons and ammunition being used against the protesters, the FRANCE 24 Observers published a tweet asking Iranians: "If you have photos of bullets or cartridges used by the security forces, send them to us by Telegram or Whatsapp." The post quickly went viral, and soon, hundreds of responses poured in, many with photos showing hunting cartridges.
Among the images we received, a few stood out: they displayed the logo of Cheddite, a well-known French-Italian brand. Others were marked with four stars followed by the number 12. A ballistics expert certified by French courts confirmed that Cheddite is the only manufacturer known to use the *12*12*12*12 logo.
After cross-checking, we were able to document the presence of these cartridges in eight cities across Iran.
Read moreHow EU-made shotgun cartridges ended up being used to repress protests in Iran
Cheddite declines to provide answers
Cheddite, owned by the French group Sofisport, is one of the world's leading producers of shotgun cartridges. Cartridges bearing the Cheddite logo are manufactured in two locations: in Bourg-lès-Valence, France, and near Livorno, Italy.
Following our initial findings in the autumn of 2022, we attempted to contact the management of Cheddite and its parent company, Sofisport, including the group’s CEO, Gilles Roccia. Our requests, sent via email, phone calls, and even in-person visits to the group's headquarters in Paris, were consistently rejected.
When we called the offices of Cheddite S.R.L., the company's Italian branch, we briefly spoke to one of its directors, Andrea Andreani. However, he made it clear that he would not speak to journalists. In fact, the Italian press had already reported in 2021 that cartridges from Cheddite had been found by protesters in Myanmar, a country under international sanctions to which arms exports are prohibited. Amnesty International had also criticized the company for potentially violating the arms embargo in that case.
While we can't determine whether Cheddite cartridges caused any fatalities in Iran, we have indisputable evidence that they were used to suppress the protests of 2022.
This is despite EU Council Regulation No 359/2011 which prohibits "the export, directly or indirectly, [of] equipment that could be used for internal repression" in Iran, including "firearms, ammunition, and related accessories".
The discovery of Cheddite cartridges on Iranian soil raises, in the words of Aymeric Elluin from Amnesty International, "serious questions".
Cheddite cartridges used for years by Iranian hunters
In Iran, the sale of weapons and ammunition is tightly regulated by the authorities. The regime does however allow individuals to purchase shotgun ammunition for hunting purposes. Only the state is authorized to sell cartridges, and annual quotas are imposed.
An Iranian hunter told FRANCE 24 that Cheddite cartridges were widely available in the country for years, even after sanctions were implemented in 2011.
To verify this, we combed through Iranian hunting forums, where the French-Italian brand is frequently mentioned by users. Numerous photographs on the forum show cartridges with the Cheddite logo on their metal base and "Shahin" on the plastic casing. Shahin is a brand made by Shahid Shiroudi Military Industries, a state-owned Iranian manufacturer that is subject to US, UN and EU sanctions.
A post from 2019 read: "The Shahin cartridges, which have 'Cheddite' on their metallic base, come from Turkey. They are excellent!" The message suggests that the Iranian company purchased Cheddite cartridges in Turkey. We tried to follow their path.
Turkey: a major exporter operating under the radar
Our review of the UN Comtrade database, the world’s largest trade database, confirmed our suspicions. The country that sells the most hunting cartridges to Iran is Turkey.
According to UN export data, Turkey is by far the largest supplier of hunting ammunition to Iran, exporting hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of cartridges and components to the country each year. Yves Golléty, president of the French Armourers Association, explains: "Turkey used to produce relatively few weapons and ammunition. But due to the European embargos, it has become a major player, little concerned about where exports end up. The embargo has had unintended consequences because it allowed Turkey to greatly expand its arms and ammunition production."
'If we were doing it, we wouldn't do it openly, we'd hide it'
Cheddite repeatedly refused our interview requests, but we managed to obtain some answers by going to the Eurosatory arms fair. Nobel Sport, a company within the same group as Cheddite, had a stand there. And there we recognized one of Cheddite's executives, whom we had identified during our research. We introduced ourselves as journalists from FRANCE 24, and the man appeared to be aware of the investigation we were working on. He accused us of trying to "create a controversy".
The man denied any violations of the embargo and grew agitated: "We're not stupid. Doesn't that occur to you? I'm going to sell to the Koreans, I'm going to sell to Iran, and my name's on the cartridge? If we were going to do that... we'd hide it."
However, he did confirm that a Turkish company had purchased empty Cheddite cartridges and then filled them. These cartridges were later exported to Iran. He added: "You can blame Turkey, but right now everyone's using Turkey for military purposes – the Russians, the Americans – because [Turkey] is part of NATO. What should I do? Stop all exports and lay off 350 people?"
Through photos posted by Iranian hunters online, we determined that Cheddite's Turkish partner is Yavascalar, an arms manufacturer.
Same logo, a joint venture
The two companies are closely linked. On the website of Yavascalar, Cheddite products are prominently featured. The Cheddite brand name is displayed on the boxes, and Yavascalar uses a nearly identical logo: a dragon, but inverted.
And Turkish company registries show that Yavascalar was at one point more than just a client of Cheddite: Cheddite Italy and Cheddite France became shareholders in Yavascalar in 2005, and three Cheddite executives, including CEO Gilles Roccia, were listed on the board of directors of Yavascalar. By 2008, Cheddite owned 50% of its Turkish partner.
A former Yavascalar executive confirmed the authenticity of the documents and added, "After 2013, we created a joint venture with [Cheddite] and restarted production in Turkey. They sent us empty cartridges, which we filled and then sold on the local market and to certain European countries."
The former Yavascalar executive also said that both Iran and Myanmar – two countries under international sanctions – had approached Yavascalar to purchase their products. "I reviewed my old documents and realized they had tried to contact us several times," he said.
He said that Yavascalar held an export license from the Turkish government to supply Iran and Myanmar, pointing out that Turkey is not subject to EU sanctions. "We sell these products with government approval. It's a civilian market: people want to make money, they want to sell."
The former executive denied, however, that Yavascalar had actually made sales to Iran or Myanmar.
In 2016, Yavascalar had been flagged by United Nations experts for violating the arms embargo on Libya.
Sanction bans 'export, directly or indirectly'
European sanctions against Iran prohibit both direct and indirect sales.
"The EU sanctions are very broad. They are not limited to the direct sale of ammunition," explains Nicholas Marsh, a researcher at the Oslo Peace Research Institute. "A common method of evading EU sanctions is to send weapons or other equipment to a third country. The weapons are then transported from this third country. So there's no direct export to the sanctioned destination, but everyone knows where the weapons are going."
The Cheddite executive we met at the arms fair denies any violation of the embargo or of any regulations in force. However, the company's behavior remains problematic, according to Aymeric Elluin of Amnesty International: "We have to question the good faith of companies when they defend themselves with claims like, 'Oh, we didn’t know what was happening'."
In 2018, Yavascalar was sold. Its Turkish owners were suspected of supporting the failed 2016 coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. They fled to the United States, where they founded a new company, Yavascalar Troy Holding, which continues to do business with Cheddite, as evidenced by export documents we obtained.
In Turkey, another arms manufacturer, ZSR, took ownership of Yavascalar. According to the Cheddite executive we met at the Eurosatory arms fair, ZSR still sources materials from Cheddite.
And according to our investigation, Cheddite/ZSR co-branded products remain available in Iran even in 2024.
And what about the French government?
In France, the state is responsible for issuing export licenses. Upon discovering that Cheddite cartridges had ended up in Iran, we questioned the French Foreign Ministry. A spokesperson told us in December 2022 that an investigation was under way "into a possible diversion of exported material, in violation of European regulations."
As we continued our investigation, we followed up with several French ministries – the Foreign Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Defense Ministry, and the Finance Ministry, which oversees customs. None of them agreed to our requests for interviews. A spokesperson at the Interior Ministry said they do not comment on such "highly sensitive" matters. After multiple phone calls and emails, a spokesperson from the Foreign Ministry reiterated only that "France scrupulously complies with the European embargos in force", without addressing the specific investigation announced two years earlier.
This lack of transparency doesn't surprise Aymeric Elluin of Amnesty: "Generally speaking, the French state is not eager to communicate on failures in its export control system, whether for military equipment or civilian firearms."
