Recently, mobilisation against Iranian regime spread to the universities and secondary schools, with class boycotts, sit-ins and campus rallies across more than 100 universities in the country. According to the news released by the Center for Human Rights in Iran, more than 100 students were arrested by the police as of 6 October 2022. The indiscriminate force used by security personnel against the students and university personnel saw a peak in the events that occurred at the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran on 2 October 2022. As the social media posts gave testimony to the severity of the police crackdown at Sharif University, protesters were attacked with rubber bullets, tear gas and many were taken under police custody under inhumane conditions.

The protests in Iran began in the aftermath of Mahsa Amini’s (22) death under state custody. Mahsa Amini was arrested and beaten by the morality police since she allegedly breached the headscarf obligation for women under the Islamic regime. As she died on 16 September 2022, protests erupted across the country, and many protesters are killed by the regime forces as the demonstrations are criminalized as terrorism incited by foreign powers.

In response to the severity of the ongoing crisis in Iran, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the European Students’ Union (ESU), German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), Scholars at Risk Network (SAR) and various other actors in the higher education sector expressed their concerns and condemned the violence exerted by the state in the universities. Sharing their position, ACA condemns the excessive force used by the police force in campuses and invite the state to respect the citizens’ right to peaceful demonstration.

More information in the respective press releases:

The European Students’ Union

DAAD

HRK

Scholars at Risk Network