As IranWire has reported, hundreds of Iranians have sustained severe eye injuries after being hit by pellets, tear gas cannisters, paintball bullets or other projectiles used by security forces amid a bloody crackdown on mainly peaceful demonstrations. Doctors say that, as of now, at least 580 protesters have lost one or both eyes in Tehran and in Kurdistan alone.
But, as one doctor tells IranWire: “This is just the tip of the iceberg. The number of victims who have lost one eye or both is far beyond the reports and your imagination.”
The report concluded that such actions by the security forces could constitute a “crime against humanity,” as defined by Article 7 of the Rome Statute.
In this series of reports, IranWire presents the victims’ stories told in their own words. Some have posted their stories, along with their names and pictures, on social media. Others, whose real names shall not be disclosed to protect their safety, have told their stories to IranWire. IranWire can make their identities and medical situations available to international legal authorities.
This is the story of Ali Mohammadi, a 22-year-old man who was shot during protests in the western city of Hamedan on September 21, 2022. The pellet that destroyed his left eye has penetrated so deeply that doctors say it cannot be taken out.
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“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is the motto Mohammadi has at the top of his Instagram page. And he wrote it on some of the stories that he posted as well.
The last video showing his left eye was posted on September 20. The young man is looking at the camera while riding his motorcycle and wearing his sunglasses on his forehead.
A friend of Mohammadi says that he cannot remember exactly when he was shot. He felt like a sonic bomb had exploded next to his head. His face was filled with pellets and blood flowed from his left eye-socket. It was 6 p.m. on September 21 in Taleghani Avenue in Hamedan.
Mohammadi was kept in hospital for 24 hours and it appeared that he was in a coma. According to his friends, he noticed that he lost his eyesight after 24 hours and he was so shocked that he could not remember anything.
Mohammadi first thought that his eye was only inflamed. Now his left eye is distorted, and its pupil always remains open.
Dr. Rouzbeh Esfandiari, a former doctor with Tehran Emergency Services, tells IranWire that the sclera, the white outer coating of the eye, was torn, which led to the discharge of the vitreous body, a gel-like substance that fills the space between the lens and the retina. There has been considerable hemorrhage both in the middle layer and in the back of the eye.
Mohammadi has posted a picture of himself dating back a year and half before he lost his eye, along with this quote by Mahatma Gandhi: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Mohammadi is a self-made man who has been working since he was 15. Now he carries the damage inflicted on him all by himself.
“Eyesight for freedom” is the message of defiance he sent in his latest Instagram post:
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