Recent Anti-Government Uprising and Protests in...

Hundreds of university students rallied on campus at the University of Tehran on Monday in protest to the increasing police brutality against student's liberties.

The rally took place at the university's Technical Faculty, according to a statement received from a student group that took part in the protests. Security forces were rushed to the scene to quell the unrest.

The demonstrators highlighted the recent case of a Kurdish student from the university's social sciences faculty whose fingers had been broken with a metal baton by members of the herasat, or security agents, for distributing student papers on campus.

They also protested against the systematic crackdown on mixed-sex gatherings outside the university's main entrance as well as university officials' "incompetence".

"Death to dictatorship", the students chanted. There were also chants of "forget about becoming nuclear, think about us" and "we don't want a fascist university".

http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7312

Comments: 15

mona d. May 23, 2006, 4:42pm EDT

great photos and article. it gives me hope to see students who care enough to stand up and be heard even when it endangers them. thank you for this.

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Lily Mazahery May 23, 2006, 4:45pm EDT

Mona,

Given that there have been other demonstrations in other cities and venues at the same type, I can not help but remain hopeful that the tides of change are indeed coming in that direction.

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California Yankee May 23, 2006, 4:58pm EDT

Evidence there is reason to hope regime change is possible.

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Nathan Schauer May 23, 2006, 9:11pm EDT

Geez Pete - The CIA? Probably the CIA was responsible for 9-11. Probably Iran is the CIA. Probably are own government is building nucs to drop on Washington because Bush wants to kill us all off.
OR - These are intelligent people who want freedom.
NAW its the CIA.

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Lily Mazahery May 23, 2006, 9:12pm EDT

Peter, my dear!

I literally live within walking... o.k. bicycle riding ... distance from the CIA headquarters. Let me assure you that they could not figure out their elbows from their behind these days and it is utterly heart-breaking. In short, there is no way that I could give the CIA any credit, no matter how -- oh so badly HOW -- much I wish I could!

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Mickey B. May 23, 2006, 9:39pm EDT

People like Peter buy into conspiracy theories because it gives them great comfort in believing someone is in control. They would rather have the Devil in control than to believe no one is behind the wheel. As Lily and Hurricane Katrina pointed out local and National government is inept.

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Sam C. May 23, 2006, 10:20pm EDT

One cannot assume that because of the CIA "failures" in pre-war WMD that the entire agency is asleep at the wheel. We do not know to what extent the CIA has been politicized to meet the current despots international agenda. We won't know until there is a Democratic congress. Certainly messing in Iranian politics is a favorite, long time hobby of the CIA. But we do know that good things, like student protests, can spring from their own sparks.

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Christopher K. Leavitt May 24, 2006, 5:59am EDT

Freedom for Iran! It will happen, and from within, godwilling. The US must put the spotlight on the abuses of the Islamic Republic.

Keep that spotlight on, Ms. Mazaheri!

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John S. (arizona) May 24, 2006, 6:27am EDT

Thanks Lily. Just today I watched a special on the 1989 Tiananmen(?) student uprising in China, and how close they came to making change in the government there. Unfortunately they were crushed and thousands died. The dilemma for communists and dictatorships is they need an educated populace to grow and have a decent economy, but the more educated a people become, the harder it is to fool them.
I hope change comes to Iran soon.

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Mickey B. May 24, 2006, 9:54am EDT

Peter,

The problem with conspiracy theories is eventually the truth comes out. Why do you think the US government didn't plant WMD in Iraq? We know about the activity of the CIA w/ Iran in the 50's because in an open society the truth eventually comes out.

Also I live in the Washington DC area and I consult for the US government. It is very scary how inefficient they are. In the 50's only the brightest went into civil service. That is no longer the case. If you want proof of US government bungling look no further then Hurricane Katrina.

I would love to think the CIA has something to do w/ the students uprising in Iran. However CIA is in the middle of a power struggle w/ Military Intelligence and their mission is in jeopardy.

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William Duda May 24, 2006, 12:19pm EDT

Let's face it. The CIA is always involved on some level of protecting U.>S interests abroad and supporting groups that are in line with U.S. interests. But it is also a well known and documented fact that the youth of Iran is much more open to the Western lifestyle than the established Iranian regime. In addition, there are several groups of Iranian ex-patriots in the U.S. and Canada that have their own systems of "Western propaganda" via radio, television, and other media outlets. So, in this debate, both sides are, to an extent, correct. Neither, however, are entirely accurate.

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Recent Anti-Government Uprising and Protests in Iran -- With Photos

Comments: 15

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