By: Rezvan Moghaddam

On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, a woman working as a vice-principal at a school in Karaj
was severely injured in an acid attack carried out by her husband on school grounds.
According to state media, the assailant followed his wife after an argument and threw a
bottle of acid on her face. In a now-familiar and evasive narrative, the state-run Rokna
website framed the attack as a result of “family disputes.”
The assailant, in his confession, stated:
“I had become suspicious of her behavior. On the day of the incident, she argued with
me and left the house, which made me act impulsively.”
He added that he followed her to the school and threw acid on her face “as
punishment.” The man was arrested while attempting to flee and was apprehended by
police while gathering his belongings.
This incident is a clear case of honor-based acid violence—a crime fueled by
misogynistic motives and enabled by Iran’s discriminatory laws and patriarchal culture.
The persistent labeling of such crimes as “domestic disputes” by government-affiliated
media is a deliberate attempt to obscure the gendered and systemic nature of the
violence. Rather than centering the victim, these narratives work to rationalize and
humanize violent men.
Acid attacks are not momentary reactions; they are premeditated acts of control,
punishment, and erasure of a woman’s identity. The use of acid—a weapon intended to
permanently strip a person of their dignity—reveals the depth of gendered hatred
underlying these crimes.
In a system where women are denied equal rights, safe shelters, and access to justice,
men can easily threaten, stalk, and punish their victims. Acid attacks by men are among
the most brutal and inhumane forms of gender-based violence, often carried out with
motives of control, revenge, and so-called honor. These crimes not only inflict
irreparable physical and psychological harm but also symbolize patriarchal dominance
in a society where women remain exposed to repeated, unpunished violence due to
discriminatory laws and lack of effective protection.
Tragically, the lack of strict and deterrent laws to combat acid attacks, combined with
the dismissive framing of such crimes as “family disputes” by state media, has led to the
normalization and persistence of these atrocities in Iranian society.

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