Student Gatherings at Tehran Universities: Protests Permitted, Violence Prohibited

According to Khabaronline, The gatherings, which began yesterday, continued today at universities including the University of Tehran, Shahid Beheshti University, and Khajeh Nasir Toosi University of Technology.

According to field reports, some of the gatherings took the form of mourning ceremonies, silence, and peaceful sit-ins, while others were accompanied by the chanting of slogans.

At the same time, officials at the University of Tehran stated that the guiding principle is the recognition of students’ right to protest, on the condition that such protests are held within the framework of the law and without norm-breaking or violence.

The Vice President for Cultural and Social Affairs at the University of Tehran, referring to the impact of the broader social atmosphere on the academic environment, said:

“The university is part of society, and it is natural that it is influenced by the country’s emotional and mourning climate. Students have the right to express their feelings and objections regarding recent events, and the university — upon formal request and observance of established red lines — issues permits for gatherings.”

According to this official, two separate gatherings were anticipated today at the University of Tehran: one submitted through a formal request and granted a permit, and another held without completing legal procedures.

University authorities stated that efforts were being made to prevent the two groups from coming into direct confrontation. Campus security personnel and several faculty members were present to reduce tensions and prevent violence.

Emphasizing that the university supports peaceful protests, the official stated: “If a gathering leads to violence, destruction of property, or slogans that challenge the established order, the university will not support it.”

He added that the presence of professors and direct dialogue with students were part of the administration’s strategy to calm the atmosphere and prevent clashes.

Officials at the University of Tehran stressed that “all students are members of this institution” and announced that under current circumstances, the primary approach is dialogue, tolerance, and tension management. Disciplinary measures would only be pursued in cases of unlawful or violent behavior.

Following today’s developments, several other universities in Tehran also held gatherings to commemorate those who died in the January protests.

At Shahid Beheshti University, an on-campus march took place, while at the University of Tehran, a group of students held a congregational prayer at noon simultaneously with the call to prayer; images of this were reshared on social media as a form of protest by some other students.

On the same day, at Sharif University of Technology, in addition to students holding the Iranian flag, images were circulated showing two students raising the “Lion and Sun flag” (the official symbol of the Pahlavi government before the 1979 Iranian Revolution), an action that some students described as having a media impact.

Meanwhile, at Khajeh Nasir al-Din Tusi University, reports emerged of damage to the glass of one of the faculties. At universities such as Amirkabir University of Technology and Iran University of Science and Technology, reports of students chanting harsh slogans were also heard.

Additionally, during one of today’s gatherings at the University of Tehran, a student was seriously injured in the eye due to a thrown stone. This incident, alongside yesterday’s events, has heightened university management’s sensitivity toward preventing the spread of violence in educational environments.

Yesterday, coinciding with the beginning of the new academic semester, a group of students at Sharif University of Technology held a gathering on campus to mark the 40th day since those killed in the January unrest.

According to university sources, the gathering initially formed as a silent sit-in in a calm atmosphere. However, with the presence of several masked individuals, its direction reportedly shifted, and slogans with a particular political orientation were chanted on campus.

As the gathering continued, tensions increased, with reports of scattered clashes. According to these reports, the use of bladed weapons by some individuals resulted in injuries to several students.

Campus security forces reportedly discovered and confiscated at least two knives from individuals accused of disrupting order. Stone-throwing during the gathering further increased the number of injuries and intensified the tense atmosphere on campus.

Ultimately, following the intervention of campus security and the dispersal of participants, the student gathering ended without further escalation, and conditions gradually returned to normal.

Overall, developments over the past two days at universities in Tehran reflect simultaneous efforts by students to express protest and mourning, and by university administrations to recognize this right as a principle, provided it is exercised within the law and without violence or confrontation.