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Tehran, Iran – The Iranian government has emphasised that protesting students must adhere to the theocratic establishment’s “red lines” as violent clashes took place inside universities for a fourth day.
Iranian students “have wounds in their hearts” and are angry, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani acknowledged to reporters during a news conference in Tehran on Tuesday, in an apparent reference to thousands killed during nationwide protests in January.
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But she added that “sacred things and the flag are two of the red lines that we must protect”, a day after footage circulating online appeared to show some students tearing up and burning the country’s current flag, and hoisting Iran’s lion and sun flag, which was used before the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Mohajerani said the government believes the students must be heard, but confirmed that many universities remain closed more than a month after the protest killings, which mostly took place on the nights of January 8 and 9. Some universities have already moved classes online for the remainder of the Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20.
But videos released on Tuesday by students and local media from inside tense university campuses that are still open showed pro-state groups affiliated with the paramilitary Basij force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) violently clashing with anti-establishment students.
Major demonstrations also took place across multiple top universities in Tehran, as well as in Shiraz to the northeast and Isfahan in central Iran, all major hotspots during the nationwide protests last month.
Protesting students chanted “Death to the dictator”, “Freedom” and “With each killed, a thousand stand behind them”.
Translation: Student clashes in gatherings at Tehran’s Khaje-Nassir-Toosi University of Technology.
Pro-government students were seen holding public prayers and reciting the Shia Islamic chant of “Haydar Haydar” as they marched in universities with the backing of university officials and security forces.
State media said no students were arrested inside universities this week, but confirmed that a number of students have had internal disciplinary cases opened against them, and some have already been suspended. Many students and schoolchidren remain imprisoned after being arrested during and in the aftermath of the nationwide protests.
“Due to reports of violations of student disciplinary guidelines, you will not be allowed to enter the university grounds. Refer to the university’s security department to offer explanations as soon as possible,” read a text message sent to a number of protesting students shared online.
Masoud Tajrishi, director of the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, warned students on Monday that the prosecutor general’s office is now handling the issue of protesting students and that he would not help them if they are arrested.
“And if the number of those forbidden from entering the universities grows too much, we will hold all classes online,” he said, according to the university’s student publication.
The prestigious university’s website was hacked on Monday, with the hackers displaying its original name before the 1979 Islamic revolution – Aryamehr University. Officials had to take down the website for several hours to recover it.
Another cyberattack on the same day led to about 50,000 Iranians receiving a text message reading, “To the oppressed people of Iran: the US president is a man of action, you will soon see”. Iran’s cyberpolice said it was investigating on Tuesday.
The message was in reference to US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to attack Iran if it does not agree to an agreement significantly curbing its nuclear and missile programmes, and end support for aligned armed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and Palestine.
As more mediated talks are expected between Iran and the US in the coming days in Geneva, Tehran has emphasised that it will only discuss its nuclear issues in exchange for lifting harsh sanctions that have helped push the country’s economy to the brink.
The IRGC on Tuesday held more military exercises along Iran’s southern shores. State television showed drones being launched and ground forces drilling to counter a potential US troop deployment on Iranian soil.
Clashes over human rights record
The Iranian government has also continued to push against the United Nations and international human rights organisations, as well as Western and other nations, who have condemned the Islamic Republic for the protest killings in January.
Human Rights Watch said in a report on Tuesday that Iran’s theocratic establishment committed “massacres” last month and has since launched a “tsunami of arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances”.
Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, reiterated the state’s claim during a UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday that “terrorists” trained, armed and funded by the US and Israel were behind the unrest. He said concerns raised over Tehran’s human rights conduct are “politicised”.
The Iranian government says that 3,117 people were killed during the protests, but US-based HRANA claims it has documented more than 7,000 deaths and is investigating nearly 12,000 more.
UN special rapporteur on Iran, Mai Sato, said that more than 20,000 civilians may have been killed, but the true extent cannot be investigated due to state-imposed internet restrictions. US President Trump has put the death toll at 32,000 people, without providing a source for his claim.
