Tehran University will be the scene of a big showdown between the mullahs' various security apparatus and student movement on Sunday. This year the student organizers have chosen December 7 to hold their protests.
Tehran University will be the scene of a big showdown between the mullahs' various security apparatus and student movement on Sunday. This year the student organizers have chosen December 7 to hold their protests.
It has a historical significance too; 55 years ago on December 6, 1953, three Tehran University students Ghandchi, Bozorgnia and Shariatrazavi were murdered by the Shah's security agents on campus.
The new walk-through metal detector security gates are in place and work round the clock. Another identification check machine is working parallel to the gates which gives clearance only to students with Tehran University ID cards and keeps out those students not belonging to the school.
Outside the school's gates, the State Security Forces (SSF) –mullahs' suppressive police– are stationed with men in full anti-riot gears. One is not to discount the so-called plain-cloths agents of the dreaded Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) roaming around in their vehicles.
Last year, the Student Day was marked on December 9, Iranian students in universities across Iran staged demonstrations, chanting anti-government slogans and calling for the release of the detained students.
At Tehran University, the protesters chanted slogans against Ahmadinejad and carried banners calling for the release of three fellow students who have been held since May, the state-run media such as Fars news agency and IRNA reported.
"The students marched on the gate and damaged it… The students chanted slogans and carried protesting placards," IRNA reported. According to the eyewitnesses, SSF agents had initially shut the main gate in to prevent large numbers gathering for the protest, but the students broke the gate so that others could enter.
"Ahmadi-Pinochet, Iran will not become Chile!", "Death to dictator," "Free all political prisoners," "University is wide awake," "University is the last barricade," "Students die but will not be humiliated," "Mr. President the student movement will stand until the end",
chanted the students.