Row over Hijab Sparkes Violence at Tehran University

The security guards of Tehran University attacked students at the School of Fine Arts on May 13 after a quarrel with a student over her head covering. The guards reportedly beat a number of students who had come to the defense of the female student.

🎥 مخاطبان ایران‌وایر با ارسال ویدیوهایی از هجوم نیروهای حراستی و بسیجی به دانشکده هنرهای زیبا، از درگیری‌های کلامی و فیزیکی میان دانشجویان و نیروهای بسیجی خبر داده‌اند. امروز ۲۳ اردیبهشت نیروهای بسیج به کلاس‌های درس این دانشکده حمله کرده و دانشجویان را ضرب و شتم کردند.… pic.twitter.com/UuSgazfYk9

— ایران وایر (@iranwire) May 13, 2023

According to the Telegram channel of Iranian Students' Unions, the security guards accosted a number of female students as others protested by chanting slogans such as “Woman, Life, Freedom,” “Students will die but will not be humiliated,” and “Death to the Leader after so many years of crime.”

The report said that the security guards followed and locked a student in a classroom where she had taken shelter and tried to confiscate her mobile phone and student ID. 

The guards also insulted and beat professors and an old university watchman, and harshly pressed the throat of one of the students.

🎥 پس از توهین حراست به دانشجویان دانشکده هنرهای زیبا و درگیری با آن‌ها به بهانه پوشش، دانشجویان دست به تجمع اعتراضی و سر دادن شعارهایی چون «زن، زندگی، آزادی» و «دانشجو می‌میرد، ذلت نمی‌پذیرد» زدند. امروز شنبه، ۲۳ اردیبهشت.#شهروندخبرنگار #دانشگاه_تهران #حجاب_اجباری #مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/nhfDcOHbcs

— ایران وایر (@iranwire) May 13, 2023

On the same day, Sepideh Reshnoo, a student at Tehran’s Alzahra University who was arrested and tortured after she was filmed arguing with a woman on a bus over forced hijab, reported that she had been suspended from the university for two semester for not abiding by the Islamic Republic's dress code.

A growing number of women have appeared in public without the compulsory head covering since Mahsa Amini's death in the custody of morality police in September last year. 

In response, authorities have made legal threats and closed down many businesses due to the failure of owners or managers to observe hijab rules. Police and volunteers issue warnings in subways, airports and other public places. Text messages have targeted drivers who had women without head covering in their vehicles.

All women in Iran must conceal their hair with a headscarf and wear loose fitting trousers under their coats while in public.