Exclusive: Nachirvan Maroofi, a protester injured in the 2022 demonstrations, has left Iran

Nachirvan Maroofi, a protester who lost one of his eyes due to gunfire from government forces in the city of Saqqez in 2022, has left Iran following increased threats from intelligence agents and the likelihood of his arrest. The 20-year-old told Voice of America in an exclusive interview, "My life was in danger from the government's torture, so I decided to leave Iran." He noted that during the funeral ceremony for Mahsa Amini on September 26, 2022, he participated in a gathering near the Saqqez governor's office, where he was shot with rubber bullets, resulting in the loss of vision in one eye. Maroofi added that dozens of rubber bullets also hit his body, affecting the functionality of his hands. Mahsa Amini was killed four days earlier on September 22 while in the custody of the Islamic Republic's morality police in Tehran, an event that sparked nationwide protests in Iran. According to the Berkeley Human Rights Center, over 120 Iranians were shot in the eye during the 2022 protests. Nachirvan Maroofi, who has undergone several surgeries but still has not regained vision in his eye, told Voice of America that when he was injured, the hospital initially refused to admit him due to his poor physical condition. He was later transferred to the Nikookari Eye Hospital in Tabriz, where surgery was performed on his eye while agents of the Islamic Republic were seeking his arrest. Maroofi stated that he has undergone five surgeries on his eye so far, but it still has no vision. He mentioned that since then, he has been summoned multiple times by the Saqqez intelligence office and was asked to refrain from participating in protests, yet he continued to protest until he was shot with rubber bullets again five months later. He said that after that, he was pursued by intelligence agents until he was able to leave Iran and enter the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on May 25 of this year.