If this sentence is carried out - would it be done surgically?

It might be done with an anesthetic - though Islamic law might dictate otherwise. But the main point is he would be blind for the rest of his life.

Here is a short article, which also lists some of the other punishements under Islamic law:

http://www.iranfocus.com/en/human-ri...ent-17105.html

"An eye for an eye" - Iran to carry out gruesome
Tuesday, 03 February 2009

Iran Focus

ImageTehran, Iran, Feb. 03 – Iran's State Supreme Court upheld on Monday an earlier court ruling for a man to be blinded with acid as punishment for blinding a woman several years ago, state-run press reported on Tuesday.

The defendant, identified only by his first name Majid, 27, was in November sentenced by a court in Tehran to be blinded in both eyes, the official state daily "Iran" wrote.

Iranian state media had previously said that Majid was found guilty of blinding a woman identified as Ameneh Bahrami in 2004.

The State Supreme Court on Monday approved the sentence which involves 10 drops of sulphuric acid being administered into each of Majid's eyes.

The phrase "an eye for an eye" is very stringently adhered to in Iran's Islamic law.

Iran's Islamic penal system regularly practices centuries-old sentences for petty crimes, such as amputation of limbs, eye gouging, stoning to death, and throwing prisoners off a cliff in a sac.