Iran human rights highlights targeting of protesters' eyes

Iranians protest in Tehran on Sept. 20, 2022. A report released Sept. 22, 2023, by Iran Human Rights accuses Iranian authorities of targeting protesters' eyes when firing at them. [AP Photo]

Iran Human Rights on Friday released its statistical analysis of eye injuries sustained during the crackdown on the 2022 protests. After cross-referencing the injuries with the list of protest-related fatalities, the organization concluded: "The firing upon women's faces and eyes by repressive forces has been highly systematic and deliberate."

Within Iran, the organization said, about 9% of the fatalities were women, yet women accounted for 28% of the eye injuries. In some areas, however, like Mahabad in West Azerbaijan province, 15% of the protesters killed were women, while they made up 56% of protester eye injuries.