Iran’s crackdown: why security forces are shooting demonstrators straight in the eye
Sinds 29 december 2025 is het weer bijzonder onrustig in Iran. Wat begon als een grootschalig protest van handelaars in de traditionele bazaar van Teheran tegen de slechte economische toestand in het land mondde al snel uit in een globaal en algemeen protest tegen het onderdrukkend theocratisch regime van de Islamitische Republiek. Sinds het begin van dit jaar worden demonstranten en vooral militanten onderworpen aan een extreem gewelddadige onderdrukking waarbij de ordetroepen vaak met scherp op de ogen van de betogers mikken. “Het verblinden van de vijand die het aandurft om de gevestigde macht uit te dagen, is de nieuwste onderdrukkingsmaatregel”, schrijft prof. em. Firouzeh Nahavandi (ULB) in deze bijdrage voor The Conversation. Zij plaatst dit gegeven in de lange geschiedenis van het land.
Over the course of the Iranian dissident action in recent years, and during the nationwide Women, Life, Freedom movement in 2022 the frequency of eye injuries inflicted upon protestors has come under public scrutiny.
Women, young people and students, often passers-by even, have literally lost an eye, or their – eyesight – from buckshot or close-range projectiles.
A tactic by security forces that we are now witnessing again: lawyer and 2003 Peace Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi estimated on 9 January that “at least 400 people have been admitted to hospital in Tehran with firearm-related eye injuries since protests kicked off at the start of the year”.
Such brutal use of force reveals far more than just police slip-ups. These acts are part of a political rhetoric that is echoed throughout Iran’s long history, in which aiming for the eyes symbolically signifies stripping someone of their personal, political capital.
Power lies in the eye of the beholder
In ancient Iranian political culture, power and the eyes are inextricably linked. I see, therefore I know; I see, therefore, I judge; I see, therefore I govern. This concept runs throughout Iran’s literary and political realms.
For instance, in the Shahnameh (Book of Kings) by Ferdowsi (10th Century), blindness constitutes a narrative marker of political and cosmic decline: heralding the loss of farr (divine glory), the principle of the legitimisation of power as a durable, symbolic disqualification of the exercise of sovereignty. Being blinded is synonymous with being fallen.
In the Shahnameh, the passage where Rustam blinds Esfandiar with an arrow is an edifying scene for Iran’s political realm: by targeting the eyes, the tale overtly associates the loss of vision with the disqualification of power and an end to all grounds for claiming sovereignty.
Historically, blindness was used as a political neutralising weapon. It was a way of eliminating a rival – prince or dignitary – without spilling blood, which was considered sacrilegious where the elite was concerned. Blind people weren’t executed, they were eradicated from the political arena.
The Shah of Persia Abbas the Great (who ruled from 1588 until his death in 1629) blinded several of his sons and grandsons whom he suspected of plotting against him or opposing succession to the throne.
In 1742, Nader Shah ordered for his son, then heir to the throne Reza Qoli Mirza to be blinded, an emblematic act of political silencing practices in Persia.
From blinding rituals to blinding to maintain security: why are protestors’ eyes so frequently in the firing line of Iranian security forces?
The Islamic Republic does not lay claim to blinding as punishment, but the massive repetition of eye injuries during contemporary repression reveals a symbolic continuity.
Once rare, targeted and admitted to, the use of blinding is now widespread, denied by the authorities, carried out using weapons termed ‘non-lethal’ and rarely sanctioned.
Yet its political role of neutralising without killing, strike the body to deter and prevent further dissent still remains comparable.
In contemporary Iran, the eyes have become a political weapon. Demonstrators film, document and diffuse what they see. Images circulate, reach the borders and weaken the government’s narrative. When the eyes are hit, you can’t see or show others, putting a stop to filming, identifying and witnessing.
The target isn’t just the individual’s point of view; it’s the broader vision that connects the streets of Iran with international public opinion.
Unlike the act of blinding in ancient times that was reserved for the male elite, nowadays eye-related violence mainly is targeted at women and young people.
The female gaze, independent, freed from all ideological control, for the world to see becomes politically intolerable for a regime founded on dictating the body and what should be seen.
A continuum of visible brutality
The ongoing repression following on from mass protest action that kicked off in late December 2025, intensified after a nationwide internet blackout, blatantly sought to reduce exposure of the acts of violence inflicted on protestors.
Independent medical reports and witness accounts described hospitals as being overwhelmed with casualties – specifically eye-related – along with a rise in crowd-control involving firearms with real bullets, documented in several Iranian provinces.
These injuries confirm that the body and particularly, the ability to see and report, are still the main target of repressive rule.
Beyond the figures, women’s first-hand accounts tell a different tale of these contemporary practices. While Iranian society has witnessed women spearheading activist movements since Mahsa Jina Amini’s killing in 2022 – some of whom were deliberately blinded during protests –, such injuries symbolise both crackdown efforts to cancel out the independent female gaze posing a political threat to the establishment; and the resistance of these injured, yet defiant women bearing mutilated faces, who are living proof of Iranian repression.
History isn’t confined to a distant past of political neutralisation: it is impregnated by women of today’s personal bodily experiences, where eye trauma can be interpreted as exploitative violence and a sign of a political struggle that revolves around the field of vision.
The body becomes ‘capital’: the ultimate sovereignty
The Islamic Republic may have broken away from the monarchy’s sacredness, but the ancient principle by which the body is perceived as capital that holds personal power, is still intact.
While monarchs resorted to blinding their subjects in order to protect their dynasties, security forces use mutilation to ensure its survival.
This strategy produces a paradoxical effect. In Persia, blinding was used as a weapon of political destruction in ancient times. Today, it makes the regime’s brutality visible for all to see.
As mutilated faces are in circulation, victims become symbols and the eyes they have lost become a testimony to Iran’s profound crisis of democratic legitimacy.
History doesn’t repeat itself but it lives on through gestures. By shooting at the eyes, the Iranian government revives the old rule book for domination: take away an individual’s ability to see and you politically eliminate them.
Firouzeh Nahavandi
Firouzeh Nahavandi is professor emeritus aan de Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).
Partner Université Libre de Bruxelles provides funding as a member of The Conversation FR. We believe in the free flow of information. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons licence.
This article was originally published in French: Répression en Iran : pourquoi les forces de sécurité visent les yeux des manifestants https://theconversation.com/repression-en-iran-pourquoi-les-forces-de-securite-visent-les-yeux-des-manifestants-273244
https://leparisienmatin.fr/moyen-orient/repression-en-iran-les-yeux
Dit artikel werd in het Engels gepubliceerd op de website van The Conversation op maandag 19 januari 2026: https://theconversation.com/irans-crackdown-why-security-forces-are-shooting-demonstrators-straight-in-the-eye-273508
Lees ook:
– Iran protests: What we know about the varying death tolls, FRANCE 24 English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTCjLNSKxTs
– Iran protests: Trump stalls on US intervention leaving an uncertain future for a bitterly divided nation – expert Q&A https://theconversation.com/iran-protests-trump-stalls-on-us-intervention-leaving-an-uncertain-future-for-a-bitterly-divided-nation-expert-qanda-273501
– The use of military force in Iran could backfire for Washington https://theconversation.com/the-use-of-military-force-in-iran-could-backfire-for-washington-273264
– This is the playbook the Iranian regime uses to crack down on protests – but will it work this time? https://theconversation.com/this-is-the-playbook-the-iranian-regime-uses-to-crack-down-on-protests-but-will-it-work-this-time-273215
– How social media is channelling popular discontent in Iran during ongoing period of domestic unrest https://theconversation.com/how-social-media-is-channeling-popular-discontent-in-iran-during-ongoing-period-of-domestic-unrest-273206
– Iran protests 2026: our surveys show Iranians agree more on regime change than what might come next https://theconversation.com/iran-protests-2026-our-surveys-show-iranians-agree-more-on-regime-change-than-what-might-come-next-273198
– ‘Neither Gaza nor Lebanon!’ Iranian unrest is about more than the economy − protesters reject the Islamic Republic’s whole rationale https://theconversation.com/neither-gaza-nor-lebanon-iranian-unrest-is-about-more-than-the-economy-protesters-reject-the-islamic-republics-whole-rationale-265696
– Iran’s protests have spread across provinces, despite scepticism and concern among ethnic groups https://theconversation.com/irans-protests-have-spread-across-provinces-despite-skepticism-and-concern-among-ethnic-groups-273276
– Iran’s universities have long been a battleground, where protests happen and students fight for the future https://theconversation.com/irans-universities-have-long-been-a-battleground-where-protests-happen-and-students-fight-for-the-future-273742
– Iran’s latest internet blackout extends to phones and Starlink https://theconversation.com/irans-latest-internet-blackout-extends-to-phones-and-starlink-273439
– Iran: how the Islamic Republic uses internet shutdowns as a tool of repression https://theconversation.com/iran-how-the-islamic-republic-uses-internet-shutdowns-as-a-tool-of-repression-273519
– One uprising, two stories: how each side is trying to frame the uprising in Iran https://theconversation.com/one-uprising-two-stories-how-each-side-is-trying-to-frame-the-uprising-in-iran-273573
– Facing protests and new threats from Trump, is the Iranian regime on its last legs? https://theconversation.com/facing-protests-and-new-threats-from-trump-is-the-iranian-regime-on-its-last-legs-272795
– Today Venezuela, tomorrow Iran: can the Islamic Republic survive a second Trump presidency? https://theconversation.com/today-venezuela-tomorrow-iran-can-the-islamic-republic-survive-a-second-trump-presidency-272693
– US and Iran have a long, complicated history, spanning decades before US strikes on nuclear sites https://theconversation.com/us-and-iran-have-a-long-complicated-history-spanning-decades-before-us-strikes-on-nuclear-sites-259240
– Christine Gruwez over Iran: “Breuklijnen in de Iraanse samenleving lopen niet tussen groepen, maar in de mensen zelf, dwars door hun hart” https://cimic-npo.org/2020/02/15/christine-gruwez-over-iran-breuklijnen-in-de-iraanse-samenleving-lopen-niet-tussen-groepen-maar-in-de-mensen-zelf-dwars-door-hun-hart/
– Iran: bloedbad onder demonstranten vereist wereldwijde actie https://www.amnesty-international.be/nieuws/iran-bloedbad-onder-demonstranten-vereist-wereldwijde-actie
– Iran: internetblokkade verbergt schendingen in escalerend, dodelijk optreden tegen demonstranten https://www.amnesty-international.be/nieuws/iran-internetblokkade-verbergt-schendingen-escalerend-dodelijk-optreden-tegen-demonstranten
– Amnesty België schrijft Iraanse ambassadeur aan met dringende oproep om geweld tegen demonstranten te stoppen https://www.amnesty-international.be/nieuws/amnesty-belgie-schrijft-iraanse-ambassadeur-aan-met-dringende-oproep-om-geweld-tegen
– Iran: ten minste 28 demonstranten gedood en honderden gewond https://www.amnesty-international.be/nieuws/iran-ten-minste-28-demonstranten-gedood-en-honderden-gewond
– Petitie Amnesty International: Stop het dodelijk geweld in Iran https://www.amnesty-international.be/doe-mee/online-acties/stop-het-dodelijk-geweld-iran
Lees ook (inhoud januari 2026)
