Iran
Iranian general acknowledges over 300 dead in unrest
An Iranian general on Monday acknowledged that more than 300 people have been killed in the unrest surrounding nationwide protests, giving the first official word on casualties in two months.
That estimate is considerably lower than the toll reported by Human Rights Activists in Iran, a U.S.-based group that has been closely tracking the protests since they erupted after the Sept. 16 death of a young woman being held by the country's morality police.
The activist group says 451 protesters and 60 security forces have been killed since the start of the unrest and that more than 18,000 people have been detained.
The protests were sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code. They quickly escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran's theocracy and pose one of the most serious challenges to the ruling clerics since the 1979 revolution that brought them to power.
Read more: Activists: Iranian forces unleash heavy fire on protesters Activists: Iranian forces unleash heavy fire on protesters
Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the aerospace division of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, was quoted by a website close to the Guard as saying that more than 300 people have been killed, including “martyrs,” an apparent reference to security forces. He also suggested that many of those killed were ordinary Iranians not involved in the protests.
He did not provide an exact figure or say where his estimate came from.
Authorities have heavily restricted media coverage of the protests. State-linked media have not reported an overall toll and have largely focused on attacks on security forces, which officials blame on shadowy militant and separatist groups.
Hajizadeh reiterated the official claim that the protests have been fomented by Iran's enemies, including Western countries and Saudi Arabia, without providing evidence. The protesters say they are fed up after decades of social and political repression, and deny having any foreign agenda.
The protests have spread across the country and drawn support from artists, athletes and other public figures. The unrest has even cast a shadow over the World Cup, with some Iranians actively rooting against their own national team because they see it as being linked to the government.
The niece of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently called on people to pressure their governments to cut ties with Tehran over its violent suppression of the demonstrations.
In a video posted online by her France-based brother, Farideh Moradkhani urged “conscientious people of the world” to support Iranian protesters. The video was shared online this week after Moradkhani's reported arrest on Nov. 23, according to the activist group.
Moradkhani is a long-time activist whose late father was an opposition figure married to Khamenei's sister and is the closest member of the supreme leader's family to be arrested. The branch of the family has opposed Khamenei for decades and Moradkhani has been imprisoned on previous occasions for her activism.
“I ask the conscientious people of the world to stand by us and ask their governments not to react with empty words and slogans but with real action and stop any dealings with this regime,” she said in her video statement.
Read more: Iran sentences anti-government protester to death: Report
The protests, now in their third month, have continued despite a brutal crackdown by Iranian security forces using live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas.
Iran refuses to cooperate with a fact-finding mission that the U.N. Human Rights Council recently voted to establish.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not engage in any cooperation, whatsoever, with the political committee,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Monday.
In a separate development, Iran released a 76-year-old dual Iranian-Austrian citizen from prison for health reasons, the Austria Press Agency reported.
APA quoted the Austrian Foreign Ministry confirming that Massud Mossaheb was given indefinite medical leave. The ministry said “intensive diplomatic efforts” had led to his release, which was first reported by Austrian daily Die Presse. There was no immediate comment from Iran.
Mossaheb was arrested on suspicion of espionage in early 2019 during a visit to the capital, Tehran, and later sentenced to 10 years in prison. He must remain in Iran and report to authorities every other week, APA reported.
Iran has detained several dual nationals in recent years on charges of threatening national security. Analysts and rights groups accuse hard-liners in Iran’s security agencies of using foreign detainees as bargaining chips in negotiations or prisoner swaps with the West, which Tehran denies.
Why are World Cup players donning unusual face masks on pitch?
From South Korea's Son Heung-min, Croatia's Joško Gvardiol, Tunisia's Ellyes Skhiri, Belgium's Thomas Meunier to Iran's Alireza Beiranvand, several players have been spotted wearing unusual face masks on the pitch during the FIFA World Cup 2022 matches in Qatar, drawing comparisons to Batman and the Phantom of the Opera.
The masks, made from materials like polycarbonate, are leaving social media users curious as to why the footballers are sporting the black shields.
But it's not a fashion statement. When football players suffer facial injuries, they frequently don protective masks. Some of these masks are 3D printed, enabling them to be customised to each player's facial features.
Read more: France's Benzema ruled out of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
Players such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Fernando Torres, and Antonio Rudiger wore face masks before.
RB Leipzig centre-back Gvardiol sported a black protective mask during the Group F match against Morocco and Canada.
The reason for the 20-year-old sporting the face covering is he had a collision with teammate Willi Orban in a Bundesliga match on November 10, with scans later showing he had broken his nose and suffered minor injuries to his face and eyes.
Also read: Neymar to miss Brazil’s second World Cup match due to injury
In a similar on-field collision, Son suffered a fracture in his face, specifically around the eye socket, while playing for Tottenham during a November 1 Champions League win against Marseille.
The 30-year-old winger also stepped onto the field against Uruguay and Ghana, donning a black carbon fibre mask.
FC Köln midfielder Ellyes donned a mask against Denmark and Australia in Group D. The 27-year-old is nursing a broken cheekbone after suffering an injury in October.
Read More: Qatari bathrobes’: German commentator under fire for disparaging remark about traditional attire
Belgium's Borussia Dortmund star Thomas Meunier was also seen wearing a mask against the Red Devils' match against Canada.
In Dortmund's match against Hannover 96 earlier this season, the defender fractured his cheekbone and had to undergo surgery.
Iran shuts out noise at World Cup but United States looms
After a World Cup start clouded by a disastrous loss and persistent questions about the civil unrest back home, Iran is celebrating the prospect of its first ever trip to the knockout stage.
But first, Team Melli faces the United States.
Iran defeated Wales 2-0 Friday and collected the three points to rise from the bottom of Group B. England and the United States played to a scoreless draw on the same day — setting up a politically fraught match between Iran and the Americans on Tuesday that will decide which team goes through to the round of 16.
The prospects of advancement certainly weren't as bright at the start of the tournament when Iran was routed by England 6-2.
“I told the players, very clear: Football is a game of a different moments. It’s not because you win or you don’t win. Sometimes you lose your dignity, you lose your honor. After the first game, we were bleeding in our pride,” said Carlos Queiroz, the Portuguese coach who also led Team Melli at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups.
Queiroz's task was to convince his team that all was not lost. But at the same time, Iran's players were facing pressure to answer for the wave of protests in Iran.
The turmoil was sparked by 22-year-old Mahsa Amini's death in September while in custody for allegedly violating Iran's compulsory dress code for women. Her death has become a rallying cry against the country's treatment of women.
Read more: Iran government supporters confront protesters at World Cup
The players did not sing the national anthem before the loss to England in an apparent show of solidarity with protestors, but in the days before the match against Wales, it became clear that the team wanted to focus solely on soccer. Queiroz even sparred verbally with a reporter following a pre-match news conference.
The tensions were heightened following the reported arrest Thursday of former national team player Voria Ghafouri in Iran for his criticism of the government.
The players sang their anthem, although not forcefully, before the game against Wales and then went on to win on a pair of second-half stoppage-time goals. Rouzbeh Cheshmi, who scored the go-ahead goal, suggested afterward the team felt pressured.
“I believe at this time, certain things happened for the players that were not quite fair. I believe that they were judged improperly and therefore they received some non-football pressures," Cheshmi said. "I believe that the entire family of the Team Melli helped each other and as a result the entire team were able to win. I scored the goal, that is true, but the team did the work.”
But Iran could not entirely escape the discord at home: Outside the stadium pro-government fans clashed with the few who dared to wear “Women, Life, Liberty” T-shirts, a slogan of the movement. Those in the shirts had to change before they were allowed in the stadium.
While the victory gave Iran back its joy, in the words of Quieroz, it will undoubtedly bring even more focus on geopolitics ahead of the deciding match with the United States. In addition to the over-arching tensions between the two nations, U.S. Soccer had taken a progressive stand for women's rights, granting equal pay between its men's and women's team — including the equal division of World Cup prize money.
As it stands in Group B, if Iran can beat the United States, it will move on. The Americans win and they'll advance, but a draw or a loss sends them home.
England leads the group after the scoreless draw with the Americans. England will qualify for the knockout stage with a win or a draw against Wales. The Welsh will need a victory to keep even slim hopes of advancing alive.
Read more:| World Cup 2022: Cheshmi’s late goal sends Iran to 2-0 win over Wales
If Wales beats England, Iran will need at least a draw against the United States and goal difference will matter.
“Now we need to be sure that we are good enough to go to the second round. So we start immediately the preparation to play against the U.S., which is a brilliant team as well, as we saw them against Wales," Queiroz said. “Our preparation starts with a good rest, refresh the minds and put all the complementary and garbage things outside of our minds and focus on our goal, because what we want to do it to give this gift to Iranian fans.”
Iran government supporters confront protesters at World Cup
Tensions ran high at Iran’s second match at the World Cup on Friday as fans supporting the Iranian government harassed those protesting against it and stadium security seized flags, T-shirts and other items expressing support for the protest movement that has gripped the Islamic Republic.
Some fans were stopped by security guards from bringing in Persian pre-revolutionary flags to the match against Wales at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium. Others carrying such flags had them ripped from their hands by pro-government Iran fans, who also shouted insults at fans wearing T-shirts with the slogan of the protest movement gripping the country, “Woman, Life, Freedom.”
Unlike in their first match against England, the Iran players sang along to their national anthem before the match as some fans in the stadium wept, whistled and booed.
The national team has come under close scrutiny for any statements or gestures about the nationwide protests that have wracked Iran for weeks.
Shouting matches erupted in lines outside the stadium between fans screaming “Women, Life, Freedom” and others shouting back “The Islamic Republic!”
Mobs of men surrounded three different women giving interviews about the protests to foreign media outside the stadium, disrupting broadcasts as they angrily chanted, “The Islamic Republic of Iran!” Many female fans appeared shaken as Iranian government supporters shouted at them in Farsi and filmed them up close on their phones.
After Iran’s 2-0 triumph, crowds of Iranian fans wildly waving national flags streamed out of the stadium. They thronged a group of protesters who held up photos of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old whose Sept. 16 death in the custody of the morality police first unleashed the protests, yelling “Victory!” to drown out chants of Amini’s name.
Read more: World Cup 2022: Cheshmi’s late goal sends Iran to 2-0 win over Wales
One 35-year-old woman named Maryam, who like other Iran fans declined to give her last name for fear of government reprisals, started to cry as shouting men blowing horns encircled her and filmed her face. She had the words “Woman Life Freedom” painted on her face.
“I’m not here to fight with anyone, but people have been attacking me and calling me a terrorist,” said Maryam, who lives in London but is originally from Tehran. “All I’m here to say is that football doesn’t matter if people are getting killed in the streets.”
Maryam and her friends had worn hats emblazoned with the name of an outspoken Iranian former soccer player Voria Ghafouri, who had criticized Iranian authorities and was arrested in Iran on Thursday on accusations of spreading propaganda against the government. She said Iranian government supporters had taken the hats from their heads.
Ghafouri, who is Kurdish, was a star member of Iran’s 2018 World Cup team, but was surprisingly not named in the squad for this year in Qatar.
“It’s obvious that the match had become very politicized this week. You can see people from the same country who hate each other,” said Mustafa, a 40-year-old Iran fan who also declined to give his last name. “I think the arrest of Voria has also affected society in Iran a lot.”
Furious protesters in Iran have been venting their anger over social and political repression and the state-mandated headscarf, or hijab, for women. The demonstrations have quickly grown into calls for the downfall of the Islamic Republic itself. At least 419 people have been killed since the protests erupted, according to monitoring group Human Rights Activists in Iran.
The turmoil has overshadowed the start of Iran’s World Cup campaign, including the opening match against England on Monday. Iran’s players remained silent as their national anthem played before the game and didn’t celebrate their two goals in the 6-2 defeat. On Friday, they sang along to the anthem and celebrated wildly when they scored twice against Wales.
Ayeh Shams, an Iranian from the United States, said security guards confiscated her flag because it had the word “women” written on it.
“We’re just here to enjoy the games and give a platform for the Iranian people who are fighting against the Islamic regime,” Shams said.
Zeinlabda Arwa, a security guard at the stadium, confirmed that authorities had been given orders to confiscate anything but the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“Whether you’re talking about Iran or Qatar or any country, you are only allowed to bring in the normal flag,” she said.
An angry group of Iranian government supporters shouted at Elyas Doerr, a 16-year-old Iranian boy living in Arizona who was wearing the Persian flag as a cape, until he took it off and and put it in his bag.
Read more: World Cup stunner: Saudi Arabia beat Messi’s Argentina 2-1
“They’re not liking that it’s a political statement,” he said, adding that other Iranian fans had approached him to say they appreciated the gesture.
A 32-year-old Iranian woman living in southern Spain, who declined to give her name for fear of reprisals, scrambled after the match to retrieve her hat and flag that had been confiscated by stadium security. She said Qatari police ordered her to scrub off the names of Iranian protesters killed and arrested by security forces that she had written on her arms and chest, at the behest of Iranian government supporters. At the game, just traces of ink remained on her skin that was rubbed raw.
“Today’s football experience was the most intimidating I’ve ever been in, before and after the match,” she said. She described dozens of men who surrounded her and tried to smother her face with their Iranian flags, snatching her signs as Qatari security stood by.
“I don’t care about the win, to be honest. That’s not my priority.”
After the game, Iranian state television broadcast patriotic songs and showed footage of people bursting out into cheers across the country. Even as many Iranians celebrated the victory, protests continued across the country. Videos circulating on social media appeared to show protests and gunfire in the eastern city of Zahedan. The Associated Press was unable to confirm reports that protesters had been wounded there.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister and Shahriar Alam discuss bilateral cooperation
Iran’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Mehdi Safari on Thursday met with Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam and discussed bilateral cooperation as well as cooperation under IORA.
The Iranian Deputy Minister mentioned that Foreign Office Consultation and meeting of Joint Economic Commission should be held at mutually convenient time to further strengthen relations in the field of trade, investment, economy, energy, chemical fertilizer and food security.
Shahriar Alam briefed him about trade potential between Bangladesh and Iran and urged for more visits of trade delegations.
Read more: Rally held in Dhaka in solidarity with protesters in Iran
They also discussed details about mutual cooperation under IORA. Shahriar Alam thanked the Iranian Deputy Minister for his participation and his delegation at IORA.
The meeting was held at the InterContinental Dhaka on the sidelines of IORA Ministerial Meeting.
Read more: Bangladesh an emerging big economic force: Iranian Ambassador
Women's protests overshadow Iran's World Cup loss
Iran’s players didn’t sing their national anthem and didn’t celebrate their goals. In the stands, many Iranian fans showed solidarity with the protest movement that has roiled the country for months.
Iran’s World Cup opener Monday against England was not just about soccer, but the political struggles gripping the Islamic Republic. And for some Iranian women, barred from attending men’s soccer matches at home, it was a precious first chance to see the national team live.
“Do you know how painful it is to be the biggest football fan and never go to a match in 34 years?” said Afsani, a 34-year-old beekeeper from Tehran, who traveled to Qatar to watch the men's team for the first time. She said she wept when she entered the Khalifa International Stadium.
Like other Iran fans, Afsani declined to give her last name for fear of government reprisals.
Iran lost 6-2 to a superior England team, but the result wasn't the most important to Mayram, a 35-year-old Tehran resident who also watched her first soccer match live. She was disappointed that the players didn’t show more overt solidarity with the protests at home.
“You have girls being killed in the street,” she said. “It’s hard to say but this is not a happy occasion. It is really sad.”
Iran is competing in the World Cup amid a violent crackdown on a major women’s protest movement that has resulted in the deaths of at least 419 people, according Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has been monitoring the protests.
Read more: England crush Iran to raise hope again: "It might just come home".
The unrest was spurred by the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police. It first focused on the state-mandated hijab, or headscarf, for women, but has since morphed into one of the most serious threats to the Islamic Republic since the chaotic years following its founding.
Many Iran fans in Doha wore T-shirts and waved signs with the mantra of the uprising — “Woman, Life, Freedom.” Others wore jerseys bearing the names of female protesters killed by Iranian security forces in recent weeks.
In the 22nd minute of the match — a reference to Amini's age when she died — some fans chanted her name, though the refrain quickly faded out and was replaced by “Iran."
Other fans dressed in conservative black chadors and hijabs in the color of the Iranian flag cheered loudly for their national team. Many of them declined to speak about the political situation, saying it was not relevant to them.
Before international matches, Iran's players usually sing the national anthem with the right hands on their heart. On Monday they stood silently, their arms draped around each other's shoulders, prompting Iran’s state TV to cut from a close-up of the players’ faces to a wide shot of the pitch. During the match, the players didn't celebrate their two goals, something that has become common in Iranian league matches since the protests began.
The question of whether to root for the national team has divided Iranians. Many now view support for the Iranian team as a betrayal of the young women and men who have risked their lives in the streets.
“The protest movement has overshadowed the football,” said Kamran, a linguistics professor who lives in the verdant northern province of Mazandaran. “I want Iran to lose these three games.”
Others insist the national team, which includes players who have spoken out on social media in solidarity with the protests, is representative of the country’s people and not its ruling Shiite clerics. The team’s star forward, Sardar Azmoun, has been vocal about the protests online. He was on the bench during the match, to the dismay of fans who said they were looking to him to make a gesture of protest on the pitch. Two former soccer stars have even been arrested for backing the movement.
Read more: Iran sentences anti-government protester to death: Report
Ali Jassim, a 14-year-old Iranian fan, said he was sure the political crisis was affecting the team’s performance, as England went up 3-0 at half-time.
“I don’t know how they can focus in a stadium full of so many people who want them to fail, ” he said.
The Iranian government has tried to encourage citizens to support their team against Iran’s traditional enemies. Iran plays the United States on Nov. 29 — a contentious showdown that last occurred at the 1998 World Cup in France.
Observers note that the players are likely facing government pressure not to side with the protests. Already, Iranian athletes have drawn enormous scrutiny. When Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi competed in South Korea without wearing her country’s mandatory headscarf, she became a lighting rod of the protest movement.
“At the end of the day, I want the players to achieve their dreams,” said Mariam, a 27-year-old sports fan and international relations student who traveled to Doha from Tehran to watch her first men's soccer match live. “It’s not their fault our society is so polarized.”
Mariam said a big achievement for the women protesting at home would be the right to choose whether to wear the hijab.
“But after that, women will go for their right to be in stadiums,” she said.
England crush Iran to raise hope again: "It might just come home".
“It’s coming home”, the theme slogan resonates euphoria for England fans and invites ridicule from other fans. The chant was making the rounds resolutely when Gareth Southgate’s team made a brave run to the semis in the World Cup 2018 defying all expectations. It has been a case of going close to home but not actually there. England has failed to jump over the final hurdles in their last two appearances in major tournaments.
The last one in the Euros 2020 final where they lost to Italy on penalties was a rather bitter pill to swallow for the English. Most of these players have now been there with Southgate’s set up for a while now, and the new ones are promising young talents raring to go make their mark on the world stage.
Iran in their opening game was a much more important test for their world cup credentials than many would give credit for. For starters, Iran is the 20th placed team in world rankings but even if we ignore that, England previously have been notorious for losing such games on the world’s biggest stage. One doesn’t have to go back much further than 2010 when England drew their opening game to the USA, who in comparison to their opponents can be labeled footballing minnows. The result was so shocking that much of the world media had misquoted the score in England’s favor the following morning. Dismantling an Iran team which must have been determined to make a statement performance by a 6-2 margin in their opening game shows the maturity of the England team.
Gareth Southgate’s biggest achievement as the team boss would be instilling a sense of national unity which even two world cups ago was divided by club loyalty. Iconic players such as Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard have gone on record to say how their club rivalries played a part in hostility within the dressing room. Now in 2022, such dressing room politics seem a tale of yesteryears. From Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka to Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, they are one team.
Read more: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: England make strong statement with a thumping win over Iran
England’s new “golden generation” will however face challenges such as their approach of making this attack-heavy team retreat back into a defensive back-five whenever it comes up against top opponents. Their approach in their upcoming game against USA, which provides a potential route for revenge for 2014, and an always fierce battle against Wales will provide a clearer picture of how far England has come as a team. But the signs in the opening game were promising for this team and their avid supporters. For now the chants of “It’s coming home” seem more hopeful than delusional.
Read more: England Squad analysis for 2022 World Cup
Iran sentences anti-government protester to death: Report
Iran’s Revolutionary Court has sentenced an anti-government protester to death, and handed down jail terms to five others, state media said Sunday, amid persistent unrest in the country.
The ruling likely marks the first death sentence in the trials of those arrested for participating in protests that have swept Iran over the past weeks demanding an end to clerical rule.
Mizan, a news website is linked to Iran's judiciary, said the death sentence followed on charges of the protester setting fire to a government building. The five prison terms ranged from five to 10 years and alleged national security and public order violations.
Read more: Iran protests: Solidarity rallies held in US, Europe showing int'l support
Mizan said separate branches of the Revolutionary Court issued the verdicts but did not share further details of the protesters on trial, who can appeal the decisions.
The court was established following the 1979 Islamic Revolutions and is known for meting out harsh punishments to those who oppose Iran's clerical rulers.
Iran has already issue indictments for hundreds of detained protesters saying it will hold public trials for them.
Anti-government demonstrations have entered their eighth week and were sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained after allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.
Read more: Iran govt now targeting singers, actors, sports stars for supporting protests
Judicial authorities have announced charges against hundreds of people in other Iranian provinces. Some have been accused of “corruption on earth” and “war against God,” offenses that carry the death penalty.
Security forces, including paramilitary volunteers with the Revolutionary Guard, have violently cracked down on the demonstrations, killing over 300 people, including dozens of children, according to the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights. Iranian authorities say more than 40 security forces were also killed in the nationwide unrest.
Although the protests first focused on ending Iran’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, they have since transformed into one of the greatest challenges to the ruling clerics since the chaotic years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran’s elite technical university emerges as hub of protests
Thousands of Sharif University alumni power Iran’s most sensitive industries, including nuclear energy and aerospace. One of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s closest advisors has taught there for decades.
But as demonstrations erupt across Iran — first sparked by the death in September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police — the scientific powerhouse known as “Iran’s M.I.T.” has emerged as an unexpected hub for protest, fueling Iran’s biggest antigovernment movement in over a decade.
“We’ve become politically active because there is nothing to lose,” said an electrical engineering major and activist in Sharif University’s student association who spoke on condition of anonymity. Like others who insisted their identities be shielded, he feared of reprisals. “The way things are now in Iran, you have to emigrate and leave your family and friends or stay and fight for your rights.”
Across the country and despite a violent crackdown, Iranians have taken to the streets, venting their outrage over social repression, economic despair and global isolation — crises that have clipped the ambitions of Iran’s young and educated generation. Over the last few weeks, university campuses have become a hotbed of opposition after years of dormancy, as students take up the mantle of activism they haven’t held in years.
“Students have come to the realization they will not achieve their rights in this framework,” said Mohammad Ali Kadivar, an Iran scholar at Boston College. “They are demanding the end of the Islamic Republic.”
Protests have flared nearly every day for the past month at Sharif University — and escalated after security forces cracked down violently on Oct. 2, resulting in an hourslong standoff between students and police that prompted an international outcry and shocked the country.
“Whether it’s true or not, people have this feeling that it’s safer to protest on campus,” said Moeen, a Sharif University alum who has observed the protests and spoke on condition that only his first name be used. “It’s easier than orchestrating something at a random square in Tehran. There are student syndicates. There’s leadership.”
University campuses have been pivotal to Iran’s opposition movements before. After the U.S.-backed 1953 coup, University of Tehran students revolted over then-Vice President Richard Nixon’s visit to the capital. The shah’s security forces stormed the campus and shot three students dead.
Sharif University, among other campuses, was wracked by protests two decades later, when Marxist and Islamist student groups lit the fuse of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which ushered in the clerical establishment that still rules Iran.
Once in power, the young theocracy worked to ensure universities would no longer be breeding grounds for opposition: The clerics purged professors, arrested dissident students and set up their own powerful student associations.
Political issues occasionally galvanized students despite the risks. Pro-reformist students protested at the University of Tehran in 1999, prompting a fearsome raid by security forces who fatally shot a student and flung others out of windows.
But broadly over the decades, Tehran’s campuses became subdued, students and experts said, particularly Sharif University — a competitive, high-tech hub considered less liberal and activist than others in the capital. Amid American sanctions and raging inflation, some students joked the university was essentially an airport, as the best and brightest students rushed to leave for Europe and the U.S. after graduation.
A turning point came in 2018, students said. Former President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of Tehran’s landmark nuclear deal that year and reimposed harsh sanctions. Deepening global isolation and frustration over lagging political reforms convinced many students that nothing would come of engaging with the system.
A year later, in the fall of 2019, a fuel price hike set off the deadliest nationwide unrest since the Islamic Revolution. The Sharif Islamic Association, a misnomer for the students’ largely secular representative body, jumped into action, organizing demonstrations on campus.
In 2020, the student group boycotted classes and held a protest vigil after the Iranian military’s downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane killed 176 people, including over a dozen Sharif University graduates. Later that year, authorities arrested two top students on widely disputed security charges, stoking outrage.
“We have no industry, we are in a bad economic situation, the environment is ruined,” said the student association activist, listing the reasons for protest. “But the biggest reason is freedom. We just want basic things that you have all over the world.”
When news spread of Amini’s death after her arrest for allegedly violating Iran’s strict rules on women’s dress, students buzzed. Iran’s government insists Amini was not mistreated in police custody, but her family says her body showed bruises and other signs of beating after she was detained.
“Even my conservative friends said, ‘If we don’t take to the streets now, we never will’,” Moeen said.
Sharif University authorities denied the student association a protest permit, members said. Crowds demonstrated anyway, pumping their fists and chanting “Death to the dictator!” — a slogan that protesters have used around the country.
On Oct. 2, the protests devolved into violent mayhem, according to statements from the association.
As hundreds of students chanted against Khamenei, plainclothes security forces stormed campus. Professors formed a human shield so students could flee. But security forces beat the professors, ripped through their interlocked hands and chased protesters into the parking garage.
They unleashed paintballs, tear gas and metal pellets on shrieking students. Several were wounded and some 40 were arrested, most of whom have now been released.
Tensions were further inflamed when the minister for higher education, Mohammad Ali Zolfigol, visited the campus and, instead of reassuring students, accused them of “lawlessness” and warned they’d be held responsible, according to a computer engineering student who attended the meeting and videos posted online.
In an attempt to defuse the resentment, the university created a forum, billed as a safe space for students to voice their complaints. The university president, the U.S.-sanctioned Rasool Jalili, who served on Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace, presided over the program.
Women boldly took the stage without the mandatory hijab, according to videos shared by members of the association. Students lashed out at the university for its failure to protect them.
And there were consequences to speaking out. On Sunday, the university announced it would temporarily ban over two dozen students who contributed to the “unstable environment.”
That prompted more demonstrations, as students raged against both university authorities and the ruling clerics. Most recently this week, female students streamed into the male-only section of the dining hall in protest over campus gender segregation as male students cheered them on. The university closed the cafeteria on Tuesday, hoping to end the demonstrations.
Instead, the students moved their lunch to the campus yard, videos showed. A professor joined in solidarity. Young women and men picnicked side by side on the pavement, chanting: “Woman! Life! Freedom!”
Fire in Iranian prison where anti-govt activists are kept: State media
A huge fire blazed Saturday at a notorious prison where political prisoners and anti-government activists are kept in the Iranian capital, injuring at least nine people, according to state media. Online videos and local media reported gunshots, as nationwide protests entered a fifth week.
Iran’s state-run IRNA reported there were clashes between prisoners in one ward and prison personnel, citing a senior security official. The official said prisoners set fire to a warehouse full of prison uniforms, which caused the blaze. He said the “rioters” were separated from the other prisoners to de-escalate the conflict.
Read:Iranians living abroad march on streets supporting anti-government protests at home
The official said that the “situation is completely under control” and that firefighters were extinguishing the flames. Later, Tehran prosecutor Ali Salehi said that “peace” had returned to the prison and that the unrest was not related to the protests which have swept the country for four weeks.
IRNA later reported nine people had been injured, without elaborating. It published video showing burnt debris scattered around a building, with firefighters spraying down the blaze’s embers.
Footage of the fire circulated online. Videos showed shots ringing out as plumes of smoke rose into the sky amid the sound of an alarm. A protest broke out on the street soon after, with many chanting “Death to the Dictator!” — a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — and burning tires, circulating videos showed.
Witnesses said that police blocked roads and highways to Evin prison and that at least three strong explosions were heard coming from the area. Traffic was heavy along major motorways near the prison, which is in the north of the capital, and many people honked to show their solidarity with protests.
Riot police were seen riding on motorbikes toward the facility, as were ambulances and firetrucks. Witnesses reported that the internet was blocked in the area.
The U.S.-based Center for Human Rights in Iran reported that an “armed conflict” broke out within the prison walls. It said shots were first heard in Ward 7 of the prison. This account could not immediately be corroborated.
The prison fire occurred as protesters intensified anti-government demonstrations along main streets and at universities in some cities across Iran on Saturday. Human rights monitors reported hundreds dead, including children, as the movement concluded its fourth week.
Demonstrators also chanted “Down with the Dictator” on the streets of Ardabil in the country’s northwest. Outside of universities in Kermanshah, Rasht and Tehran, students rallied, according to videos on social media. In the city of Sanandaj, a hotspot for demonstrations in the northern Kurdish region, school girls chanted, “Woman, life, freedom,” down a central street.
The protests erupted after public outrage over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. She was arrested by Iran’s morality police in Tehran for violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code. Iran’s government insists Amini was not mistreated in police custody, but her family says her body showed bruises and other signs of beating after she was detained.
At least 233 protesters have been killed since demonstrations swept Iran on Sept. 17, according to U.S.-based rights monitor HRANA. The group said 32 among the dead were below the age of 18. Earlier, Oslo-based Iran Human Rights estimated 201 people have been killed. Iranian authorities have provided no death toll for weeks.
Iranian authorities have alleged without providing evidence that the unrest is a Western plot, trying to downplay the demonstrations.
Read:US imposes more sanctions on Iran over Mahsa Amini's death
Public anger in Iran has coalesced around Amini’s death, prompting girls and women to remove their mandatory headscarves on the street in a show of solidarity. Other segments of society, including oil workers, have also joined the movement, becoming one of the greatest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the country’s 2009 Green Movement.
Riots have also broken out in prisons, with clashes reported between inmates and guards in Lakan prison in the northern province of Gilan recently.
Evin Prison, which holds detainees facing security-related charges and include dual citizens, has been charged by rights groups with abusing inmates. The facility has long been known for holding political prisoners as well as those with ties to the West who have been used by Iran as bargaining chips in international negotiations.
Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American who had been furloughed from prison while serving a 10-year sentence on internationally criticized spying charges, was recently sent back into Evin. His 85-year-old father, Baquer Namazi, was freed and allowed to leave the country.
A lawyer for Namazi, Jared Genser, wrote on Twitter early Sunday that Siamak Namazi “is safe and has been moved to a secure area of Evin Prison.” He did not elaborate.
In 2018, the prison was slapped with U.S. sanctions. “Prisoners held at Evin Prison are subject to brutal tactics inflicted by prison authorities, including sexual assaults, physical assaults and electric shock,” the U.S. Treasury Department wrote in a statement after announcing the sanctions in 2018.
The U.S. State Department was following the reports “with urgency” and was in contact with the Swiss as the protecting power for the U.S., spokesman Ned Price said in a tweet Saturday. “Iran is fully responsible for the safety of our wrongfully detained citizens, who should be released immediately,” he said.
President Joe Biden, on a trip to Oregon, said the Iranian “government is so oppressive” and that he had an “enormous amount of respect for people marching in the streets.”
Commercial strikes resumed Saturday in key cities across the Kurdish region, including Saqqez, Amini’s hometown and the birthplace of the protests, Bukan and Sanandaj.
The government has responded with a brutal crackdown, arresting activists and protest organizers, reprimanding Iranian celebrities for voicing support, even confiscating their passports, and using live ammunition, tear gas and sound bombs to disperse crowds, leading to deaths.
In a video widely distributed Saturday, plainclothes Basij, a paramilitary volunteer group, are seen forcing a woman into a car and firing bullets into the air amid a protest in Gohardasht, in northern Iran.
Widespread internet outages have also made it difficult for protesters to communicate with the outside world, while Iranian authorities have detained at least 40 journalists since the unrest began, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.