On Being a Girl in Islam > Thousands of people deliberately blinded during Iranian protests

 

Thousands of people deliberately blinded during Iranian protests

Masih Alinejad

@AlinejadMasih

As I walked off the CBS set this morning, a young producer stopped me backstage. She was shy. She hesitated. Then she asked: "Did you say a woman were blinded… intentionally? What do you mean?" I showed her the picture of Kosar. I showed her the picture of Ali. I said: yes. This is not a stray bullet. 

The snipers of the Islamic Republic aim for the eyes. A pellet gun fired point blank at a face. They want the world to stop watching, so they take away the eyes of the ones who watched. Kosar was shot in the eye during the Woman Life Freedom uprising. Her friend Ali Zarei was blinded the same way. Now Ali sits on death row, waiting to be executed. 

Kosar asked me to tell CBS about him. So I did. 

More than 10,000 people have been blinded, intentionally, during the Woman Life Freedom and the recent uprisings. This is the real Handmaid's Tale. Yes, you’re fiction is our reality. I carry this burden every time I walk into a studio or when I go on the stage, because some people in the West cannot believe this is happening In the 21st century. Believe it. And say their names. #StopExecutionsInIran

8:35 AM · Sep 23, 2026

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According to Grok:

Masih Alinejad describes showing a CBS producer photos of Kosar Eftekhari and Ali Zarei, both blinded by close-range pellet or paintball shots to the eyes by Iranian security forces during the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests.

Kosar was intentionally targeted in the face while protesting; Ali Zarei, also blinded in one eye in 2022, returned from Germany in 2026, was arrested, and sentenced to death on charges including propaganda against the regime.

Credible investigations, including by UC Berkeley and the NYT, confirm security forces systematically aimed at protesters' eyes with pellet guns, documenting hundreds of blinding injuries, though Alinejad's figure of over 10,000 exceeds verified counts.