Iranian Student Protests Continue; Minister of Science: The Issue is Not Political

Protests over the murder of Amir Mohammad Khalighi, a student at the University of Tehran, continued for a second day, with various student groups calling for a third day of protests. According to student sources, the central campus of the University of Tehran on Saturday, February 16, witnessed a security atmosphere with the presence of security forces and plainclothes agents. The Telegram channel 'Amirkabir Newsletter' reported a clash between security forces and students who were filming one of the protesting agents. Videos released from the protests on Saturday at the University of Tehran featured chants such as 'If you don't shout today, you'll be Khalighi tomorrow.' Additionally, according to the Amirkabir Newsletter, residents of the university dormitory addressed the head of security who called for an end to their gathering, emphasizing that it should be clarified which plainclothes agent 'injured a student' on Friday night. The first protest gathering held on Saturday continued late into the night and turned violent due to the intervention of plainclothes forces and security agents. 'Prevent the entry of rogue forces into the University of Tehran,' said Minister of Science, Masoud Pezeshkian, stating that the President had ordered a swift investigation into this case and the student protests to prevent them from spilling outside the university and to stop rogue forces from entering. Hossein Simayi Sarraf, Minister of Science, Research, and Technology, attended a meeting with the University of Tehran's board of directors on Saturday to follow up on the case of Amir Mohammad Khalighi's murder, denying reports of the arrest of several protesting students and asserting that 'no student was arrested during the protest gathering on Friday night at the university dormitory.' In this context, the head of Tehran police stated, 'We arrested an individual of the same age as the students around the gathering on Friday at the university dormitory, who was not a student and was later identified as affiliated with the Mojahedin-e Khalq [MEK].' The police official did not specify the identity of this individual. The Minister of Science also stated on Saturday, 'This issue is not political at all, as some students were concerned about being framed, and we said we would not allow this; the President is firmly behind the issue.' Given the history of the university dormitory, the government seems to fear that student protests may escalate with the involvement of non-university forces. The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, wrote in this regard: 'The murder of a University of Tehran student is a completely social issue, but due to the victim being a student and the location of the incident, it has created the necessary conditions for it to become a political issue.' Meanwhile, student sources have published various statements calling for the continuation of protests on Sunday at several universities in Tehran. Amir Mohammad Khalighi, a 19-year-old business management student at the University of Tehran, was stabbed near the university dormitory on Wednesday night and died on Thursday morning; Tehran police described the assailants as 'two motorbike robbers.' The body of this student was buried on Saturday in his hometown, the village of 'Darmian' in South Khorasan province. Abdul Rahman Khalighi, the father of the murdered student, said at the funeral that Amir Mohammad was the youngest of his five children and that his murder occurred on his first day of work. Amir Mohammad Khalighi's name was even heard alongside the names of the Kerman students during a gathering of retirees in Kermanshah on Sunday. Kermanshah retirees expressed solidarity with the families of the killed students from Farzanegan School in Kerman and the university student, shouting: 'From Kerman to Tehran, the murder of our children!' Abbas Ali Mohammadian, the commander of Greater Tehran police, said on Saturday night in a television program that because the murder site 'lacked light, identifying the perpetrator is difficult,' and the delay in announcing results is 'due to environmental conditions and light.' However, Asghar Jahangir, the spokesperson for the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, said in the same television program: 'The perpetrators have been arrested and are being interrogated.' According to the judiciary's explanation, 'some suspects related to Khalighi's murder incident have been arrested.' On Saturday, reports also emerged regarding the resignation of Mohammad Zare, the director of dormitories at the University of Tehran, and Laleh Kouhbar, the student deputy of the university's dormitory affairs department. The Minister of Science announced the news of the dormitory director's resignation, and the news of Laleh Kouhbar's resignation was also published by the Hamshahri newspaper. Meanwhile, student sources reported that on Saturday night, a 'police container' was installed in the streets surrounding the University of Tehran dormitory; the Amirkabir Newsletter referred to this action as 'a remedy after Sohrab's death.' In recent days, students have reminded that over the years, they have repeatedly warned about the unsafe environment behind the university dormitory, but their concerns have been met with indifference from officials. The protests of the students at the University of Tehran have received widespread support from students at other universities as well as political and civil activists and opponents of the Islamic Republic.