Iranian Security Forces Accused of Systematically Shooting Young Women in the Eye

Iranian security forces are being accused of deliberately targeting young women's eyes as part of their crackdown on protesters, according to Norway-based human rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR). The youngest victim, six-year-old Bonita Kiani Falavarjani from Isfahan, was shot and blinded in one eye while standing on her grandfather's balcony. IHR has documented 22 cases of people being blinded in one eye, nine of whom are women. The group claims that young women are disproportionately represented among those who have sustained such wounds.

IHR Director, Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam, stated, "We don't have enough data yet, but I have the impression that young girls are over-represented among those whose eyes are targeted." The group claims that this "inhumane and unlawful act" is being carried out systematically to crush the protests, which erupted in September following the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini.

A high-profile case is that of Kosar Khoshnoudikia, a member of Iran's national archery team, who was blinded in one eye during a December protest in Kermanshah. When asked if security forces were targeting eyes, the commander of the special police, Hassan Karami, denied the allegations, stating that "not harming the protesting population" was a priority for the police forces.

According to IHR, security forces have killed at least 488 people during the crackdown on the protests. In December, reports also claimed that security forces were targeting women's genitals.