Iran Calls For Citizens Support In Face Of Hijab Rebellion

Baqerinia, known for his outspoken criticism of the government, was expelled and banned from teaching following his dissent during the 2022 uprising in Iran.

In a video message, Baqerinia directly addressed the Supreme Leader, advocating for a shift away from repression and toward democratic change. "Instead of repression, hold a referendum," he urged.

The expelled professor questioned Khamenei's stance, asking, "Why should you be indifferent to the lives lost and blinded eyes?", referring to the scores of protesters blinded by security forces and more than 500 killed in brutal suppression in the wake of 2022's Women, Life, Freedom protests. 

Hakim Sabzevari University, which took action against Baqerinia in February, accused him of attempting to “influence public opinion and students by disseminating various messages that had a tangible impact on unlawful student gatherings.” It is part of an almost two-decades-long purge being seen across the country as the regime tries to oust dissent and replace academics with pro-regime voices. 

In August, Etemad newspaper released a list of 157 professors who have been expelled, forcibly retired, or suspended from teaching for actions which took place between September 2021 and August 2023, aligning with the beginning of President Ebrahim Raisi's government.

Recalling the Supreme Leader's statement from the previous year regarding individuals engaged in street protests, Baqerinia emphasized the need for understanding rather than collective punishment.

In a statement issued Tuesday via the Farsi account of the US State Department on the social media platform X, the United States called on the Islamic Republic to cease the practice.

The State Department utilized the hashtag #SamanYasin in expressing deep concerns over the wellbeing of the imprisoned Iranian rap artist.

Saman Seydi, widely recognized by his stage name Saman Yasin, was arrested in October 2022 during anti-regime protests in Iran and was initially handed a death sentence. However, the sentence was later overturned by the Supreme Court.

Ahmadreza Haeri, a political prisoner held in Qezel Hesar Prison, revealed in a letter on Monday that Yasin had recounted a disturbing incident from December of the previous year. According to Yasin, Evin Prison officials took him out of his ward at three in the morning, stating, "If you have a will, write it."

Reportedly, Yasin was taken to the gallows with his hands tied and eyes blindfolded, where officials discussed tying the noose off-center to ensure a swift and less agonizing death.

In a turn of events, officials informed Yasin, after a phone call, that he was being given another chance for "cooperation," leading to the abandonment of his execution.

In response to the reports, the US Department of State emphasized, "The use of fabricated execution, torture, and issuing death sentences without a fair trial not only violates human rights but is also contrary to fundamental respect for human dignity."

The US called on the regime to "immediately cease such inhumane actions and conduct fair and transparent trials for their citizens."

In May alone, a record 142 prisoners were excited as the surge continues. In July, Iran Human Rights Organization reported at least 354 executions had taken place this year.

“For forty-five years, we Baha’is have been constantly disqualified from leading a normal life in our ancestral homeland,” Mahvash Sabet, a former member of the Baha’i community’s leadership group wrote in a letter from Tehran’s Evin Prison.

She reflected on the impact of the Islamic Revolution of 1979, stating, "Our ancestral homeland was abruptly taken from us, and we became 'the others'." Sabet recounted the misfortunes suffered by the Baha’i community, including the execution of nearly 250 of its members and the confiscation of assets belonging to many others.

The Shia clergy consider the Baha’i faith as a heretical sect. With approximately 300,000 adherents in Iran, Baha’is face systematic persecution, discrimination, and harassment. They are barred from public sector employment and, in certain instances, have been terminated from private sector jobs due to pressure from authorities.

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has on several occasions called the Baha'i faith a cult and in a religious fatwa in 2018 forbade contact, including business dealings, with its followers.

In her letter, a copy of which was received by Iran International, Sabet has used the term “disqualified” (radd-e salahiyat) to describe Iranian Baha’is deprivation of civil and human rights including freedom of religion, the right to higher education, and most jobs.

In the context of ideological screening primarily carried out by security and intelligence bodies, Radd-e salahiyat means “found disqualified” for a position or status. Screening is conducted in a wide range of situations including higher education, civil service, participation in national sports teams, and elections.

Belief in the absolute guardianship and rule of a jurisprudent cleric (velayat-e motlaqqeh-ye faqih) and the Constitution of the Islamic Republic as a governing system are two of the fundamental requirements for being “qualified” in these situations.

Sabet, now seventy-one, was dismissed from her job as a school principal after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. She has been consistently denied the opportunity to publish her poetry in Iran, where books undergo scrutiny and rejection not solely based on their content, but often due to the authors' ideology, religion, or private lives.

In her letter, Sabet, who has spent nearly twelve years in prison for her faith, reveals that authorities appropriated a sand processing factory her husband had been constructing just a week before its launch. “He was disqualified, too!” she wrote in her letter.

In 2009, seven leaders of the Baha’i community, collectively known as Yaran (friends or helpers), including Sabet, were arrested. They were sentenced by a revolutionary court to 20 years in prison on fabricated charges, including "insulting" Islamic sanctities, propaganda against the regime, and alleged spying for Israel, for which the prosecutor had sought death sentences.

Some of the charges, including espionage, were dropped by an appeal court in 2010, resulting in a reduction of their sentences to 10 years. However, authorities reinstated the original 20-year sentences in 2011.

All members of the Yaran group were released from prison between September 2017 and December 2018. However, Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, another female member of the group, were arrested again on August 1, 2022.

Both women endured months of solitary confinement while awaiting their trial. In December, they were handed another decade-long prison term for "forming a group to act against national security," a sentence they are currently serving.

Pezeshkian warned about the potential consequences of insisting on such restrictions, stating, "If we continue in this way, in the not-too-distant future, we will create a country that will have a significant gap with the advanced world. We always focus on the wrong uses of the internet, while we should not deprive good individuals because of the wrongdoings of some."

Internet restrictions in Iran have gradually increased since President Ebrahim Raisi assumed office in 2021. Although initiated during the previous governments, the measures have gained renewed momentum under the current administration, ramped up further since the Women, LIfe, Freedom movement began last year.

The representative of Tabriz underscored that society should not suffer due to the undesirable actions of a few individuals. He argued, "People use the internet in various ways, and the restrictions only increase the concerns and frustrations of the people. Instead, we should always embrace innovations and strive to be pioneers."

Iran has a history of imposing strict censorship measures on internet access over the past two decades, limiting citizens' access to free information. This includes the blocking of numerous foreign and domestic websites, including reputable news outlets. Despite the restrictions, many Iranians have been using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and anti-filtering software to circumvent these limitations.

Major social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, X, and Telegram remain inaccessible without the use of anti-filtering software and VPNs.

Mohammad Ali Zolfigol, the Minister of Science, issued a decree removing Rasoul Jalili from his position and introduced Abbas Mousavi as the new acting head of the university.

The graduation ceremony for 81 students from the international campus of Sharif University of Technology took place on Kish Island last Thursday. According to videos shared on social media, many female graduates were seen without mandatory hijab, wearing graduation uniforms.

Following that, the chancellor of Kish campus was dismissed. On Saturday, the AmirKabir Telegram channel reported that, following threats from the ministries of science and intelligence, Ali Selk Ghaffari, the chancellor of Kish campus, had been "forced to resign."

The dismissal will come as a shock for many, knowing Jalili as a key figure in the Khamenei inner circle. In 2012, Jalili was appointed as a member of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace by the decree of Supreme Leader and was previously named as one of the organizers of "digital suppression," leading to his inclusion in the US sanctions list.

Since the protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police detention, many students, especially female ones, have openly and practically opposed mandatory hijab. As dissent deepens, universities have stepped up security and surveillance, in line with that seen across public spaces in Iran.