Iran gives 'eye for an eye' treatment to convicted acid attacker

The convict was found guilty of throwing acid in the face of his unnamed victim five years ago

Iran blinded a man convicted of blinding another man in an acid attack -- in a literal "an eye for an eye" punishment, reported The Guardian.

Citing Iran's state-owned Hamshahri newspaper, the report stated the convicted man was rendered unconscious in Rajai Shahr prison in the city of Karaj on Tuesday before medics gouged out his left eye.

The convict had been found guilty of throwing acid in the face of his unnamed victim five years ago in the city of Qom, blinding and disfiguring him for life. He was subsequently sentenced to be blinded in both eyes, paying a fine and 10 years imprisonment.

Read: Rape, acid attacks, kidnap: Girls face rising violence in fight for education, says UN

Although the convict was sentenced to lose sight in both eyes on Tuesday, the victim – who, under Iranian law, has the final say in the punishment – decided at the last minute to postpone the blinding of his right eye for six months. The attacker will be able to plead with the plaintiff to spare him from being blinded fully.

Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam, from Iran Human Rights (IHR), an independent NGO based in Norway, condemned the blinding as barbaric.

“Medical staff who cooperated with the Iranian authorities in this act have broken the Hippocratic oath and cannot call themselves doctors,” he said.

Read: ‘Honour’ crime: Boy attacks aunt with acid

Acid attacks have been increasing in Iran in recent years and are usually driven by family feuds. Hamshahri reported that the man in this case had been hired by the relatives of his victim’s wife to take revenge on their behalf. It was not clear if he had carried out the attack for financial gain or whether he was related to the wife’s family.

Another prisoner, identified as Hamid, was scheduled to lose an eye on Wednesday but the procedure was postponed by his victim, Davoud Roshanaei, until March 20, the first month of the Iranian New Year.