Iran sentences three to be blinded in 'eye-for-an-eye' punishment

Iranian courts have sentenced three people to be blinded in one eye under the Islamic republic's retribution laws, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Hamshahri, the Tehran municipality's daily, said a woman was among the three sentenced to the eye-for-an-eye punishment.

She had hurled acid at another woman in a 2011 dispute, causing her to lose an eye, it said.

Hamshahri said the supreme court has upheld the sentence of having her right eye gouged out, on top of a jail term and a fine.

A man has been handed down the same punishment for causing his victim to lose an eye in a knife assault in 2017.

In a third case, dating back to 2018, a man has been convicted for blinding a friend in the left eye with a hunting weapon. Hamshahri said the plaintiff has "insisted" that his assailant suffer the same fate.

The three cases have been transferred to the Tehran prosecutor's office to prepare for the sentences to be carried out.

Iran applies the eye-for-an-eye law at the request of victims or their families, unless they grant a pardon.

Amnesty International and other rights groups condemn such punishment in Iran as cruel and tantamount to torture.