Tensions Continue In Iran’s Universities Following Stricter Hijab Enforcement

Iranian students have spoken out against brutal crackdowns taking place at Tehran University of Art where students are protesting draconian hijab laws.

An unknown number of students at the fine arts institution in Tehran have been staging a sit-in against stricter hijab rules inside the university premises since Wednesday, with many seriously injured by the campus security forces on Thursday and several others arrested by plainclothes agents on Saturday. 

The sit-in began after the authorities announced new rules for the Art University that require girls to wear a pullover headscarf with stitched front (called maghna’e in Iran) which is like a nun’s coif, completely covering the head and the neck. Failing to comply, the university has announced, would result in suspension.

The College of Arts students published a statement condemning “the gender apartheid” and the violent acts against the protesting students. The head of campus security, Hamzeh Borzouei, himself attacked a group of about fifty students who had begun the sit-in protest and injured at least five of them.

Following the incidents, several separate statements were issued online by students from institutions including Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tarbiat Modarres University and Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, vowing to continue protests against the repressive policies. 

Expressing solidarity with the students of the College of Arts, one of the statements claimed that "the policy of maximum repression that has intensified in a coordinated manner in universities around the end of the academic year, like other forms of repression, will ultimately fail."