Government Shoots Protesters in Iran, Eye Surgeons Deployed to Lebanon

On the second anniversary of the nationwide protests in Iran in 2021, during which hundreds of protesters suffered eye injuries due to government repression, volunteer doctors treating them were killed, injured, or arrested. The Islamic Republic claims to have sent Red Crescent eye surgeons to treat the victims of the explosion of Hezbollah pager devices in Lebanon. According to state news agencies on Wednesday, September 19, a group of 'volunteer' doctors and eye surgeons, led by Pirhossein Kolivand, head of the Islamic Republic's Red Crescent, traveled to Lebanon to examine the victims of the Hezbollah pager explosion in hospitals. According to Lebanon's Health Minister, Firas Al-Abiad, the number of explosions in the country has risen to 12, with 1,850 injured. Medical aid has arrived from Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Turkey, and Jordan, with some of the injured also transferred to Syria and Iran. Previous reports indicated that Hezbollah forces participated in the repression of the 2021 protests in Iran. In this context, Amir Etemadi, an opposition political activist, referred to the simultaneous explosion of Hezbollah pagers as part of the 'oppressors of the Iranian people' who have 'been struck by divine arrows.' Furthermore, Kamran Khansari-Nia, vice president of the Noufdi organization, shared images of protesters whose eyes were injured by the Islamic Republic's forces in 2021, reacting to the news of the potential blindness of Mojtaba Amani, the Islamic Republic's ambassador who reportedly possessed one of the pagers and was injured in the explosion, stating: 'An eye for their eyes.' The deployment of Red Crescent doctors and specialists to treat Hezbollah's wounded comes at a time when doctors who voluntarily treated injured protesters during the 2021 protests faced the wrath of the Iranian government, with many killed, injured, or arrested. Aylar Haghi, a medical student, was one of the medical staff killed during these protests, shot in the back by the Islamic Republic's forces. Yaser Rahmani-Rad, one of the doctors facing judicial persecution and arrest, was described by his lawyer as a 'charitable doctor who provided indiscriminate medical services to the injured' and especially 'gave hope to those blinded as a result of gunfire.' Hamid and Farzaneh Ghara-Hassanloo, a medical couple arrested during the 2021 protests while treating an injured person who happened to be a member of the government’s repressive forces, are currently imprisoned on charges of 'participation in murder' and 'waging war against God.' Reports indicate that only eye doctors from three hospitals—Farabi, Rasoul Akram, and Labbafi-Nejad—estimated that during the repression of the nationwide protests from September 26 to the end of November 2021, they admitted 'more than 500 patients' with 'severe eye injuries,' while doctors in Kurdistan reported at least 80 individuals with eye injuries. The deployment of surgeons and specialists to Lebanon by the Islamic Republic comes two years after the killing of Mahsa Amini, with government repression continuing to claim victims amid public demands for justice and nationwide protests. Recently, two injured protesters died after enduring suffering for two years. Sara Deldar, a former political prisoner who was also injured while helping injured protesters and later arrested, died after suffering from chronic infections caused by pellet wounds in Rasht. Mohammad Azad, a protester who was shot in the head, right eye, and abdomen by the Islamic Republic's agents two years ago, also died after two years of suffering from his injuries. In September 2022, the Iran Human Rights Organization announced that based on its research and statistical analysis of eye injury victims during the 2021 protests, 'the shooting of women in the face and eyes by repressive forces was highly systematic and targeted.' The simultaneous explosion of thousands of pager devices belonging to Hezbollah members, reportedly caused by a cyberattack, has resulted in at least 12 deaths and thousands of injuries, sparking widespread reactions among Iranian users. The extensive damage to Hezbollah's communication network and the injury of hundreds of its members has brought joy to Iranian users on social media. Saeed Ghasemi-Nejad, a senior researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, commented: 'Hail to the pagers and the hand that ignited them.' Hezbollah was established in 1982 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Several countries, including the United States, Israel, Germany, Serbia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Australia, have designated the group as a terrorist organization. The identification of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization means that there is no distinction between its political and military branches, labeling both as terrorist entities. Reuters reported that Israel had planted explosives in Hezbollah's ordered pagers months prior. The death toll from the pager explosion in Lebanon has risen to 12, and the eyes of the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon have been severely injured.