Blinding As A Weapon (17): Flying Requires Courage, Not Wings

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 the actual numbers across the country are much higher.

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 Niloufar Aghaee, a 32-year-old midwife expert who lost one of her eyes during protests five months ago. Before the nationwide demonstrations began in September 2022, she was already well-known to social media users in Iran.

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"For me, in the midst of all the emotions I experience every day, there’s no room for regret..." Aghaee said in a recent Instagram post.

"...I have adapted to estimate heights, and I’m careful not to rub my left eye when I wake up. For five months, I have only worn makeup on one side of my face.”

In the same post, she published photos. One showed her lying in a hospital bed with a wounded face on October 26, and in another she is holding a newborn baby on February 23.

Shooting at Doctors

On November 4, Aghaee joined doctors and other medics in front of the forensic medicine building in Tehran to voice support for the protest movement triggered by the September death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police.

The participants marked the 40^th day since Amini’s death by chanting slogans such as "Freedom, freedom, freedom" and “Cannons, tanks, firecrackers, mullahs must get lost.”

Security forces fired shotguns to disperse the gathering, injuring Aghaee, a woman dentist several other medics.

On January 24, Aghaee shared a heartbreaking story about her missing eye, saying, "My beautiful eyes, today marks three months without you."

“You Must Do what you Have to Do”

Aghaee holds a master’s degree in midwifery from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, with a specialization in counseling.

Before November 4, she was a midwife who shared glimpses of her daily work on her Instagram account. She often included quoted by Khalil Gibran, an Arab poet who celebrated women in his writing.

"A woman who feels good by reading books and poems, listening to music, and drinking coffee cannot be harmed by anyone or anything; she will not be defeated,” she said.

A year before this post, she wrote:

“You must do what you must do,

You must ask for it to make it happen,

Nothing in this life is so difficult that it cannot be solved,

Nothing is too bitter to be rejected,

And nothing is so bad it cannot be fixed.”

"Flying does not require wings, flying requires courage, the courage to leave those who support you.”

“Get up, and Start again..."

One month after the “tragic event,” Aghaee posted the first picture of her on Instagram. She is holding a baby in her arms while wearing a protective shield over the left eye.

Her posts and stories show how she is moving forward with even greater resolve than before.

She is back to work, refusing to let the injury caused by the Islamic Republic’s violent repression push her away from society.

She wrote:

"One must cry once for all,

Until the tears run out,

One must take control of this sorrowful body,

And then turn the page of life,

One must think of something else,

Get up and start again..."