Injured Protesters Address Iranian Ambassador in Lebanon: 'It's Your Turn Now'

Following conflicting reports about the potential blindness of Mojtaba Amani, the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, due to the explosion of pagers belonging to Hezbollah members, a number of visually impaired protesters welcomed this incident. Firouz Mirani, who lost vision in one eye due to gunfire from government forces during the nationwide protests of 2022, sent a message to Mojtaba Amani saying, "You took an eye, you must give one back. If it's turn-based, it's your turn now, terrorist eyes." Salar Vatan-Khahs, another visually impaired protester, recounted the suffering from losing his sight, addressing the Iranian ambassador in Lebanon: "I don't know if it's Moses' stick or the children's sigh! But go ahead! Take a bit of my pain that I've endured over these two years." The Instagram page "Eye for Freedom" also shared a message from Ali Delpasand, another visually impaired protester, directed at Mojtaba Amani, stating: "Karma will catch up with each of you mercenaries of the Islamic Republic who have killed all the children of Iran with the crimes you committed and maimed some." Some government sources had previously announced that Mojtaba Amani's eyes and face had sustained "serious injuries" from the pager explosion. However, the Iranian embassy in Beirut claimed on Friday, September 30, that surgery had been performed on the ambassador's eye and that "there is no serious problem" and he continues to manage the embassy. According to the embassy, Mojtaba Amani was transferred to Iran for further treatment along with "over 90 Lebanese injured." The recent explosion of pagers and radios belonging to Hezbollah members resulted in at least 37 deaths and over 3,000 injuries. According to Lebanon's Minister of Health, Firas Al-Abiad, some of the injured have been transferred to Syria and Iran. While the Lebanese government and Hezbollah, along with the Islamic Republic and Hamas, another Tehran-backed group, have accused Israel of these actions, the country has not reacted to this. A senior Hezbollah member was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. User reactions to the explosion of Hezbollah's communication equipment ranged from joy to skepticism about its effectiveness. Reuters reported that Hezbollah distributed the "pagers" among its members just hours before the explosion. Taiwan and Bulgaria denied involvement in the purchase or sale of the exploded pagers in Lebanon.