Atmosphere Of Fear In Tehran University

An Iranian student union is accusing the president of Tehran’s Tarbiat Modares University of cooperating with the Ministry of Intelligence to suppress students amid an ongoing brutal crackdown on nationwide protests.

The Student Union Council of Iran on February 21 said Farhad Daneshjou was using fear and threats to exert psychological pressure on the students and silence them.

The council said over 100 disciplinary cases had been filed against students by the University's Disciplinary and Security Committee over "false and baseless accusations."

It also reported that students have been routinely summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence in recent days.

Daneshjou rejected the accusations, saying that no students have been suspended by the university’s disciplinary committee. He said that a few students were banned from entering the university due to educational issues.

Reports suggest that some students have boycotted classes and staged protests on the campus after being banned from the university.

Iranian universities have been at the forefront of the protest movement sparked by the September death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of morality police.

More than 140 universities have been the scene of anti-government protests, sit-ins and violent clashes between students and security forces.

Hundreds of students have been barred from universities, arrested or killed by the authorities and armed forces, while a number of professors and lecturers have been suspended or fired for expressed solidarity with the demonstrators.

Overall, activists say security forces have killed more than 520 people and unlawfully detained over 19,000 in connection with the widespread demonstrations. Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.