Continued Disciplinary Actions Against Students in Iran; Suspension from Studies Due to Participation in a Party

The disciplinary committee of the University of Science and Industry has suspended eleven students for one to three semesters due to their participation in a "mixed" party. The news website Hrana, the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, reported that some of these students were summoned by the "moral security police" or were forced to make "commitments" during the disciplinary committee sessions. According to the report, a large colored group photo of these individuals was printed, despite them being at a private party. These students claim that the university has intruded into their privacy at the "highest level." One student from the University of Science and Industry, who wished to remain anonymous, told Hrana that they were pressured during the disciplinary committee session to write "what they wanted." Some of these students faced heavier cases in the disciplinary committee due to traveling together. In November of this year, several students from Qom University of Medical Sciences were also suspended for up to four semesters for attending a "mixed" party, accused of "subversion and promoting permissiveness in cyberspace." The pressure from government institutions on students and academics has increased unprecedentedly following the active participation of this segment of society in the nationwide protests of 2022, with many professors and students being deprived of their activities or studies under various pretexts. Several professors who stood by their students have also faced forced retirement and resignation. The newspaper "Ham-Mihan" recently reported that the approval of the disciplinary committee's regulations in December last year intensified the crackdown on students and made the atmosphere in universities more volatile. The report indicated that last year, 176 disciplinary rulings, 8 expulsions, and 301 semester suspensions were reported by disciplinary committees, and it was also noted that most of the case fabrications continued "without adhering to regulatory standards." The "executive guidelines of the student disciplinary regulations" were issued to universities across the country last December, establishing "20 punitive measures" and signed by the ministers of science and health of the Islamic Republic. The introduction of these guidelines states: "The student disciplinary committee" is mandated to address violations with an emphasis on "religious, ethical, legal, and rights standards." The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, claimed in October of this year that "enemies" consider the university as "the focal point of all their efforts" to "distort minds, capture hearts, dominate the space of thought and belief of our youth." The strict enforcement of mandatory hijab has also intensified in universities since the nationwide protests for "Women, Life, Freedom." In a recent action, the cultural and social deputy of Tehran University announced the establishment of "hijab monitors" at the university. Mehdi Shahbazi emphasized in an interview with the ILNA news agency that there would be "very serious" actions taken against professors and university staff in this regard. Several student organizations have boycotted elections, stating that the people's behavior signifies a "no" to the Islamic Republic. The sidelining of dozens of university professors in Iran over the past two years continues, with ongoing pressures on professors supporting the protesters; Mostafa Azarakhshi, a theology professor at Beheshti University, was expelled. The arrest and conviction of several protesters, students, and artists in Iran continue. Hassan Bagherinia, a dismissed professor, stated after being summoned to the prosecutor's office that this is the "decline of the university in the sacred Islamic system." Disciplinary actions against students continue, with suspensions and exile for four students from Tehran University and Tehran University of Medical Sciences.