Iranian University Students Rally Behind Imprisoned Student Activists

University students in Iran have announced their support after two student activists were sent to prison last week.

Zia Nabavi and Hasti Amiri, student activists, have begun serving their prison sentences after being convicted of "propaganda against the Islamic Republic" for participating in a protest against the serial poisoning of schoolgirls in 2020.

Nabavi, a former political prisoner, initially faced a one-year sentence.

However, Evin prison officials recently informed him that a previously suspended one-year sentence would also be enforced, resulting in a total of two years in prison.

In response to their imprisonment, students at Allameh Tabatabai University and Al-Zahra University held demonstrations and displayed posters in support of Nabavi and Amiri.

As many as 13,000 pupils have reportedly suffered symptoms including nausea, fainting, headaches, coughing, breathing difficulties, and heart palpitations, with many requiring treatment at hospitals. 

The attacks appeared to have targeted girls for their involvement in the nationwide protests sparked by the September 2022 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.