Iran protests: Clashes break out between students and security forces across Iran, rights groups say
CNN
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Violent clashes broke out between security forces and student protesters at university campuses all over Iran on Sunday, according to activists and human rights groups in the country.
Students continued to protest in large numbers at several of the country’s main universities despite warnings from the head of the country’s Revolutionary Guards Hossein Salami that Saturday. was the last day of the rally.
In a video obtained by CNN through pro-reform activist agency Iran Wire, two uniformed officers can be seen trying to arrest a protester. The video is said to have been recorded at Sanandaj Technical College in northwestern Iran.
In the capital Tehran, activist groups claim clashes broke out between protesters, members of the Basij militia and plainclothes police at Azad University, but CNN was unable to independently verify whether whether the people in the clash were security forces or not.
Protests have swept through the Islamic Republic for weeks following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died on September 16 after being detained by “ethical police” and taken to a “reform center” created”, accused of failing to abide by the country’s conservative dress code.
In a video posted by activist group 1500 tasvir, a crowd of protesters can be seen, with some holding sticks. Tear gas appeared to be thrown through the crowd, but it is unclear by whom.
In another video obtained by CNN through the pro-reform activist agency IranWire, students at another university in the capital, Tehran University, can be seen marching and chanting: “No must be mourning time. It’s time for anger.”
The official state news agency IRNA reported on a “massive gathering” of students and professors at Tehran University “in response to recent events and the terrorist attack on the shrine.” “Shahcheragh”, takes place in the southern city of Shiraz on Wednesday.
Additionally, in Sanandaj, gunfire can be heard in a video posted by the Kurdish rights group Hengaw, believed to have been recorded near Kurdistan University.
Activist group 1500 Tasvir also posted a video showing security forces outside another educational institution in the province, Sanandaj Technical College for girls on Sunday.
Iran Human Right (IHRNGO), a Norway-based NGO, condemned the “invasion of the university campus by armed plainclothes forces and the violent crackdown on the protests.” peaceful student protests,” in a statement Sunday.
“With the continuation of nationwide protests, armed plainclothes forces of the Islamic Republic entered the university campus to crack down and arrest student protesters,” IHRNGO said. violently,” said IHRNGO.
IHRNGO Director and University of Oslo Professor, Mahmoud Amiry-Moghaddam, has called on “universities and academic institutions around the world to support student requests and condemn the serious infringement of the framework.” university member of the forces of the Islamic Republic”.
On Saturday, the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, appealed to young Iranians in particular not to protest.
“Today is the last day of the riot. Don’t go out anymore. What do you want in this country? ‘ said Salami.
