Iranian Hardline Official Brands Arts Students Worthless

A Tehran University official has insulted fine arts and performing arts students saying they are worthless entertainers.

In an audio file released on Sunday, Abdolreza Seif, the Head of Faculty of Literature and Humanities and an advisor to the dean of Tehran University used a derogatory Persian word for dancers, which denotes immoral entertainers, to describe performing arts students.

Singing and dancing is forbidden in the strict interpretation of Islam, which the hardliners in Iran try to enforce.

Students at the fine arts faculty have been staging sit-ins against stricter hijab rules inside the university premises since last month.

Many were seriously injured by the campus security forces and several others arrested by plainclothes agents.

The sit-in began after the authorities announced new rules for the specialist arts institution which 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.

Following the incidents, several 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.