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Sixteen Iranian Students Expelled From University For Mixed Protest Lunch


A student protest in Iran. (file photo)
A student protest in Iran. (file photo)

More than a dozen Iranian students have been forced to leave Zabol University in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province for protesting the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody by having a lunch attended by both men and women.

The Union Council of Iranian Students said 16 students were expelled because they "had a group lunch,” flouting rules on the compulsory gender segregation in the cafeteria.

The council has also announced the suspension of Morteza Mardiha, a member of the Faculty of Communication Sciences of Allameh Tabatabai University in Tehran, for supporting students in their protests over Amini's death.

In recent weeks, there have been several reports of university professors being fired or suspended for accompanying protesting students.

Anger over the 22-year-old Amini's death on September 16 has prompted thousands of Iranians to take to the streets to demand more freedoms and women's rights.

Numerous protests have been held at universities, particularly in Tehran, where many students have refused to attend class. Protesting students have chanted "Woman, life, freedom" and "Death to the dictator" at the rallies. Some female students have removed and burned their head scarves.

In most of the protests, students have asked professors to support them, and some university professors and lecturers have expressed solidarity with the protesters.

Universities and students have long been at the forefront of the struggle for greater social and political freedoms in Iran. In 1999, students protested the closure of a reformist daily, prompting a brutal raid on the dorms of Tehran University that left one student dead.

Over the years, the authorities have arrested student activists and leaders, sentencing them to prison and banning them from studying.

The activist HRANA news agency said that, as of January 26, at least 700 university students had been arrested during the recent unrest.

Many have faced sentences such as imprisonment and flogging and dozens of students have been expelled from universities or suspended from their studies, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

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