The eyes of a revolution and the stories behind them
Our Stories
We have asked for people to share with us their stories, the way that they would like for them to be told.
Hamidreza Heydari
Hamidreza Heydari.
A mechanic, was 25 years old when he accompanied his wife, mother and sister-in-law, to protest in Shiraz on 20 September 2022.
Hamidreza spoke to us from a refugee camp in Germany.
He told us that the situation in Iran isn’t only about hijab, but it’s about the lack of the fundamental freedoms, especially for the women in Iran. This isn’t the Iran that he or his family wanted. They wanted a free society. After they learned of Mahsa “Jina” Amini’s murder in custody in Tehran, and of the start of the protests, they found local demonstrations to join from the first few days.
Hamidreza tells us that he, his wife, and mother and sister-in-law had gone out together to a place they had heard people were gathering after he’d gotten back from work.
“We were gathered peacefully chanting slogans.”
No one was violent, or throwing stones, no one was even swearing. The Basiji forces came on their motorcycles and everything changed. Hamidreza’s family sensed danger and they started to run away. They grabbed his arm and tried to have him go with them, but he decided to stay. He stayed behind with about twenty other men and four or five or so women.
Hamidreza suddenly became aware of a Basiji agent roughly six or seven meters away from him.
“I saw the barrel of the gun, and before I knew it, it hit me.”
From the shock, he didn’t realise right away what had happened. He had a burning sensation on his face and realised he’d been hit when he saw he was bleeding.
Hamidreza covered his left eye to test, his right eye had been hit and he couldn’t see from it. He had been hit with a total of six pellets, two of which had entered his right eye. The other pellets had hit him in the head, chest and neck. His injury had marked him like a gazelle and the hunting dogs were now after him.
Back in the crowd, Hamidreza was able to hide and with the help of those around him he managed to escape to a nearby car.
“As we were trying to get away, we realised that the road had been closed off on both ends, they had trapped us inside. There was no way out.”
“They were cornering people, breaking their arms and legs.”
The group sought refuge in a parking lot and that’s where Hamidreza was reunited with his family. With the help of those around them, they were able to escape.
We asked Hamidreza if at any point in the protest he felt scared.
He said he wasn’t scared, he mostly felt hatred. He wanted revenge.
“I have never regretted going, even though I lost an eye for the sake of freedom”
The first hospital that they went to had police outside. They managed to enter without drawing attention, and despite his eye needing urgent surgery, he was told that they would need to leave as there were police forces present in the hospital. They left and headed for a second hospital. At the second hospital the staff informed the authorities about someone having come in with injuries from being shot. They had to escape once more. They spent the night in the car without being able to find treatment.
Figuring that they wouldn’t be able to find a hospital that would accept them, they headed home. In the morning they headed for a third hospital. This time on admission they told the hospital that Hamidreza had been injured at work. It was clear that the doctor’s knew what had happened but they assisted nevertheless. Although this hospital didn’t report them to the authorities, they did not allow him to stay for too long after his operation was complete.
Hamidreza’s eye was partially removed and a barrier was placed in to prevent infection.
Hamidreza mentioned to us that the first hospital he had been at, nurses had admitted to him that they had had three or four other patients of through with similar injuries to his.
Hamidreza says that his family have been very supportive. His wife had also been assaulted at the protest and had damage to her tailbone which has been left untreated and still causes her pain. All of his family that had been out had had an experience of violence, and they were all standing firmly by Hamidreza.
We asked if he had filed any complaints in relation to his injuries.
“No, I haven’t filed any complaints. If I would have, they would have arrested me on the spot.”
Hamidreza says he has made peace with what happened to his eye. He says that there is no choice but to come to terms with his injury. He acknowledges that is an incredibly difficult ordeal but says that he has to be strong, and that the stronger a person is, the quicker they can come to terms with what has happened.
Hamidreza had expected that they would go and protest peacefully like in other country, he would go and protest and demand that their rights be given to them. They didn’t go out to cause violence.
“We protest because it’s our right”
Hamidreza had expected that their demands would be heard and responded to. Rather, they went to the streets, and the paramilitary Basiji forces were unleashed on them with no real mandate or authority.
“They barely have formal training to handle their firearms. They dismount from their motorbikes and start firing indiscriminately at people. What can we expect in such a situation? I’m just glad that I wasn’t executed.”
Hamidreza had been out of work since his injury. The issues with his vision were insurmountable for being able to continue his work.
We asked Hamidreza if he had a message for the world
“My message to the whole world and to Iranians is to never, at any cost, bow down to oppression. Because if you give in to oppression once, you will have to endure it for the rest of your life. In my opinion, oppression should never be tolerated.”
His message to others who had been injured like him was
“Just that they are not alone, and our spirit lives one… we are the pride of Iran. We are the kind of people who had the courage to stand up and go out there. N one should regret taking that step”
“In hopes of freedom for Iran and our homeland.”
– Hamidreza Heydari
Eyes for Freedom | Cheshm Baraye Azadi | چشم برای آزادی 