Issuance of Several Terms of Expulsion Following Boys' Dancing

A few days after the prosecutor's office announced charges against the president of Sistan and Baluchestan University due to the dancing of several male students at a cultural festival, several news websites in Iran reported that seven students from this university have been sentenced to a total of 12 terms of expulsion from studies by the disciplinary committee. According to the report from the 'Asr-e Ta'adol' website, which has been republished by several other sites, the disciplinary committee of Sistan and Baluchestan University has sentenced five of these students to two terms of expulsion. Additionally, two other students have been sentenced to one term of expulsion. These rulings can be changed in the university's disciplinary review committee. In this context, one of the students who was sentenced to expulsion, in an interview with 'Asr-e Ta'adol' without revealing his name, described the issuance of a two-term expulsion for 'five minutes of joy' as 'oppression' and stated, 'I will definitely appeal this ruling.' He emphasized, 'Many students expressed their emotions in this way during the performance... Why are they making such a big deal out of such a simple matter? No harm was done, and the session was not mixed.' In recent weeks, a video from the closing ceremony of the cultural festival at Sistan and Baluchestan University was released, showing several male students performing local dances on stage while others danced in the hall. Hossein Ali Shahriari, the representative of Zahedan in the parliament, called the students' dancing 'shameful and unjustifiable,' and Abbas Ali Soleimani, the representative of the Supreme Leader in Sistan and Baluchestan, stated that 'if the university is to engage in dancing and merriment, it is better to close it down.' Meanwhile, Alireza Bandani, the university president, promised on Saturday, June 22, that the disciplinary committee would deal with the 'factors' behind this incident and informed the Supreme Leader's representative in the province about the 'results of the actions taken' regarding this incident. Two days after these statements, Alireza Marziyeh, the prosecutor of Zahedan, announced that this institution had filed charges against the university president due to this incident, and he is currently 'under investigation.' Over the past few years, the execution of certain programs at universities, including music events, has faced numerous challenges, and some concerts have also been canceled. Additionally, last year, the Islamic Council of Universities announced a regulation banning 'the execution of concerts and independent music programs' at universities affiliated with the Ministry of Science. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, has previously criticized the execution of certain programs such as overseas trips or concerts at universities, stating that 'universities are not places for concerts.' He has also criticized what he called 'the laxity of cultural institutions' in meetings with representatives of the tenth parliament.