Continued Student Protests in Iran; Protesters: We Did Not Sacrifice Lives to Compromise

As student protests continue following the death of Amir Mohammad Khalighi in Tehran, several student organizations have expressed support for these protests. During a gathering at Tehran University, protesting students chanted, "If we don’t unite, one by one we will be killed," calling for student solidarity. The protesting students also shouted, "The student is awake, is disgusted by tyranny," and "We did not sacrifice lives to compromise, to praise the murderer." A group of students also marched at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Tehran University, chanting, "We don’t want spectators, join us," and "Student, shout, demand your rights." Various student organizations condemned the killing of Amir Mohammad Khalighi in statements. Among them, the Free Thought Association, represented by a group of students from Allameh University, stated that "this incident not only demonstrates the insecurity present in educational environments but also reveals the irresponsibility and incompetence of university administrators and relevant institutions more than ever." The statement emphasized that "the government is currently unable to provide any aspect of security (economic, social, psychological) for the people" and that "its only sustainable strategy is widespread and systematic repression," while "poverty and social inequality have spread crime in society, and universities have not been spared from this harm." This student organization stressed that "we will not remain silent in the face of repression," referring to the "sit-in of students in the university campus," stating that the Islamic Republic's response to "this peaceful protest" has been to "secure the university environment" with the aim of "turning the university into a scene for repression and intimidation," while "Tehran University today is collectively shouting a right that will resonate in society." Amir Mohammad Khalighi, a 19-year-old business management student at Tehran University, lost his life on Wednesday night due to stabbings by "robbers" near the university. His death has sparked widespread reactions in Iran, and student protests at Tehran University have continued for the past four days. Hossein Simaei Sarraf, Iran's Minister of Science, apologized after the widespread student protests. He also claimed that no one was arrested during the students' gathering on Friday night at the university campus. This claim comes as news sources reported that the students' protest was escalated by the intervention of plainclothes agents and that several students were arrested. Masoud Pezeshkian, head of the Islamic Republic government, has also instructed the Minister of Science to quickly address this case and the students' protests.