At Least 7 Students Detained As New Academic Year Starts In Iran
As the new academic year begins in Iran, reports confirm the detention of at least seven students across various cities as new rules come into effect over the likes of dress code and conduct.
There have been further instances of suspension and expulsion affecting both students and university professors.
According to reports from student media outlets, Sahar Salehian, a nursing student at Sanandaj University of Medical Sciences, was apprehended by Iranian security forces in Saqqez on Saturday.
The recent surge in student arrests began with the detention of Mahsa Saeidi, a PhD student at Yazd University, on September 11.
Ali Gholami, a student activist at the University of Science and Industry in Tehran, was also arrested three days later. The wave of detentions continued with the apprehension of Ali Rezvani, a student at Khajeh Nasir Toosi University in Tehran, Farhad Hosseini, a student of management at Azad University in Zanjan, Mohammad Mehdi Vosoughian, a student at Esfahan University of Medical Sciences, and Armita Pavir, a student at Azarbaijan Madani University.
Concurrently, there has been a widespread summons of students to disciplinary committees, resulting in suspension and expulsion orders, often justified under the pretext of "non-compliance with dress codes," new rules announced this week.
Furthermore, in recent cases of professor suspension and expulsion, Mostafa Azarakhshi, a faculty member of the theology and religious studies department at Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, faced suspension.
The decision has faced strong criticism from student unions, who view it as part of an ongoing effort to suppress and remove professors. They emphasize that this suspension follows the signing of a statement by one hundred professors demanding the release of detained students during the Women, Freedom, Life protests.
