Iran avoids harsh crackdown as university protests continue

The Iranian government faces a delicate challenge in handling current university protests amid broader public frustration over rising prices and stalled diplomacy with the West.

The protests began Friday evening at Tehran University’s campus after Amir-Mohammad Khaleghi, an undergraduate business management student, was fatally stabbed by two men who stole his laptop just outside the campus.

On Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of students gathered again at Tehran University and Tarbiat Modares University to protest. They submitted a list of demands to authorities, warning of further demonstrations if their concerns—including the removal of “plainclothes forces” from university campuses—were not addressed.

Students accuse authorities of neglecting their safety amid a rise in robberies near campus in recent years. Meanwhile, they criticize officials for prioritizing the surveillance of student activists and suppressing dissent instead of addressing security concerns.

During Friday’s peaceful protest, four students were arrested, and a female student was injured by one of the unidentified agents who stormed the campus. The detained students were later released.

The presidential administration took an unusually conciliatory approach, a departure from the Iranian government’s typical response. Rather than escalating force against the students, officials appeared willing to defuse tensions. This tactic can be related to current public anger at the deteriorating economic situation and the danger of widespread protests.

University official Hossein Hosseini met with the protesters and blamed the violence on vigilantes and plainclothes security agents who entered the campus without authorization.

Higher Education Minister Hossein Simaei Sarraf cut short an official visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to Iran after Friday’s protests. He later apologized to the students and pledged decisive action against unauthorized interference in university affairs.

“Certain individuals and groups are more focused on creating turmoil rather than resolving crises. These irresponsible actions, whose instigators and masterminds remain unknown, have placed a significant burden on the country,” Deputy Higher Education Minister Gholamreza Zarifian told the reformist Etemad Online, referring to the unrest triggered by Friday’s violence against students.

A law passed by Parliament in 2000, during the presidency of reformist Mohammad Khatami, prohibits police and other security forces from entering higher education institutions except under “extraordinary circumstances” and only with the university dean’s request and the Higher Education Minister’s approval.

This legislation followed the 1999 student protests, which began on July 7 at Tehran University. Students had initially gathered peacefully outside their dormitories to protest the closure of Salam, a reformist newspaper. Some later moved their protest outside the campus before returning to their dormitories without any incidents.

That night, riot police, the Revolutionary Guards’ Basij militia, and vigilante groups raided the student dormitories, attacking sleeping students indiscriminately. They destroyed rooms and personal belongings, and in a tragic incident, one student was thrown to his death from an upper floor. A similarly violent raid occurred at Tabriz University dormitories two days later.

Known as the Kuy-e Daneshgah Disaster, these events sparked days of protests and unrest in Tehran and other major cities. Demonstrators marched toward Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office in Tehran, chanting slogans against him.

Security forces responded with a brutal crackdown, killing at least three people, injuring over 200, and arresting hundreds more. Many detainees spent years in prison as a result of the protests.

The 1999 university unrest set a precedent for future anti-government protests in 2009, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022. This history may partly explain the Iranian authorities' apparent reluctance to use force against university students.