Mon 03 October 2022:
Iranian security forces clashed with students at a prestigious university in Tehran, according to social and state media, in the latest sign of a deadly crackdown on nationwide protests sparked by the death in custody of a young woman.
The anti-government demonstrations, which began on September 17 with the funeral of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the Kurdish town of Saqez, have grown into the largest show of opposition to Iran’s authorities in years, with many calling for the end of more than four decades of clerical rule.
“Sharif University of Technology announced that due to recent events and the need to protect students … all classes will be held virtually from Monday,” Mehr news agency reported, amid nationwide protests over the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in custody.
About 200 students had gathered from Sunday afternoon at the university and chanted slogans against Iran’s clerical authorities, Mehr said.
“Woman, life, liberty,” they shouted, as well as “students prefer death to humiliation”, the news agency said.
Security forces fired tear gas and paintballs at the students, Mehr said, adding that the security forces were carrying weapons that fire non-lethal steel pellets, outside the university’s north gate.
Activist Twitter account 1500tasvir, which has about 160,000 followers, posted several videos showing Sharif University, traditionally a hotbed of dissent, surrounded by dozens of riot police on Sunday.
One of the videos showed security forces firing teargas to drive the students off the campus and the sound of what appeared to be shooting at a distance could be heard.
The regime in Iran is sending security forces inside the Sharif University in Tehran to arrest and shoot students!#جنایت_دانشگاه_شریف#اعتصابات_سراسری #مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/XSj6s4OfnH
— Sohrab™:) (@SohrabSaiiii) October 2, 2022
Another video showed security forces chasing dozens of students trapped in the university’s underground parking. The account said dozens of students had been arrested.
The science minister later arrived at the campus to speak with the students in a bid to calm the situation, the report added.
Students had been protesting at numerous universities on Sunday and demonstrations were held in several cities such as Tehran, Yazd, Kermanshah, Sanandaj, Shiraz and Mashhad, with participants chanting “independence, freedom, death to Khamenei,” earlier social media posts showed.
The protests have not abated despite a growing death toll and the crackdown by security forces using teargas, clubs, and in some cases, according to videos on social media and rights groups, live ammunition.
Iran Human Rights, a Norway-based group, in a statement said that “so far 133 people had been killed across Iran“, including more than 40 people it said died in clashes last week in Zahedan, capital of the south-eastern Sistan-Baluchistan province.
Iranian authorities have not given a death toll, while saying many members of the security forces have been killed by “rioters and thugs backed by foreign foes“. Last week state television said 41 had died, including members of the security forces.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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