“Women, Life, Freedom!” Chanting Students Savagely Beaten In Bandar Abbas

Iranian security forces stormed a university dormitory in the port city of Bandar Abbas and savagely attacked students who were calling for freedom, an eyewitness told IranWire.

A student who witnessed the Friday morning attack on Bandar Abbas University’s Kosar 5 dormitory said security forces standing outside the building “went completely wild” when students chanted “Women, life, freedom” and slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

They entered the building and “beat people with batons and [metal] balls and arrested many,” the student said.

Young men and women, including university students, have been at the forefront of the anti-government protest movement that has rocked Iran for more than a month.

Intelligence agencies have tightened security at campuses across the country amid a brutal crackdown on protests that has killed at least 234 people, including 29 children, according to one human rights organization. Several thousand people have been arrested.

The burst of popular anger was triggered by the September 16 death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She had been arrested for allegedly wearing the hijab incorrectly.

The nationwide protests first focused on Iran’s strict dress code for women, but soon grew into one of the most serious challenges to the country’s establishment, with demonstrators clashing with security forces and calling for the downfall of the Islamic Republic.