Revisiting a Uprising; What Was the Role of Student Groups in the July 9, 1999 Uprising?

The student uprising of July 9, 1999, has gained such a significant place in the history of the student movement in Iran and the freedom-seeking movements of Iranians in contemporary history that, years after the event, various aspects of it are still being discussed. The role of student and political groups during those days is one of the most important topics that has been and continues to be published with various views and comments. Some active members of the Office for Strengthening Unity at that time have recently raised points regarding this matter, indicating the need to clarify several issues for a proper transmission of the events of those days to future generations. Firstly, it is certain that criticizing the performance of a group in a specific historical moment pertains only to that moment and does not include the activities of the members of a group in other historical peaks. This explanation is written with respect to the struggles of the dear friends of the Office for Strengthening Unity and dozens of other activist students who kept the university as a bastion of freedom for years. On the other hand, clarifying the dimensions of a historical incident is a duty assigned to those who were closely involved in the events of that historical event. Furthermore, an incident as extensive as the July 9 uprising, which resulted in significant costs for a group of freedom seekers in Iran, has turned the defense of the oppressed and victims of that event through a correct historical narrative into a moral duty. Some friends from the Office for Strengthening Unity active on July 9, 1999, have claimed that this group played the main role in the events of those days. Although one cannot deny the role of this group in the events of July 9, it is essential to consider the direction of this role and the objectives it aimed to achieve. More importantly, merely playing a role in a historical event does not justify the correctness and legitimacy of a group's actions. Besides, the incident of the attack on Tehran University and the subsequent student protests includes several phases and stages that must be examined to determine the role of political and student groups in those events, clarifying what each group did in which phase and stage and with what approach. The first phase of the July 9, 1999, student uprising began with students protesting the closure of the Salam newspaper and the spontaneous gathering of students at Tehran University. The main factor in the initial formation of these protests was an independent student residing in the university dormitory named Farrokh Shafiei. Farrokh Shafiei, with whom I was imprisoned for some time in Evin Prison, called on students to gather in the university dormitory by distributing announcements in the rooms of Tehran University. The gathering of students and then the cowardly attack by plainclothes forces affiliated with the government and the police on the university dormitory marked the beginning of the events of July 9, 1999. According to official sources, at least one person (Ezzatollah Ibrahimnejad) was martyred in the events following the incident at the university dormitory, although some reports suggest that the number of casualties was higher. Akbar Mohammadi, a student activist arrested during the events at Tehran University, died on August 8, 2006, following a hunger strike in Evin Prison. Saeed Ziniali is another student who was arrested during those events, and since that time, there has been no information about him. As is evident, the main initiators of the call for the gathering of students, the martyr of the night of July 9, and the two other mentioned students had no political or organizational affiliation with the Office for Strengthening Unity. As student protests intensified and the public joined the protesting students, the Office for Strengthening Unity, as the student arm of the reformists and one of the 18 groups forming the Second Khordad Front, intervened. It is important to note here that scientifically labeling groups that are considered part of the government and state (even if that part is the elected reformist segment of the government) as a 'movement' is incorrect, and this applies to the Office for Strengthening Unity during that historical moment as well. Concurrently with political figures visiting the university dormitory and the continuation of protests, the Office for Strengthening Unity established platforms within the dormitory and demanded accountability for the perpetrators of the attacks on innocent students. The Office for Strengthening Unity, as the most comprehensive student organization in Iran benefiting from extensive state resources, announced the students' demands, including the presence of Seyyed Mohammad Khatami at the university dormitory, the dismissal of the police commander, and accountability for the attackers. According to its activists at that time, the Office for Strengthening Unity, while raising these demands, also engaged in extensive communication and negotiations with government officials, the Supreme National Security Council, military and police commanders, and even the office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. The efforts of the Office for Strengthening Unity at this stage aimed to limit protests to student environments and reduce them to a professional gathering with demands within the framework of the reformist government’s wishes. Simultaneously, independent student groups like the United Student Front and established secular and national political groups such as the Iran Nation Party and the National Front, along with the overwhelming wave of protesting students and people, entered the scene. The independence of these groups and their lack of access to state resources, severe governmental repression, specific and limited organizational capacity, and their placement in an untested position meant that these groups could not effectively organize the widespread protests of thousands. However, the freedom-seeking and anti-structural demands of these groups were heard in the chants of thousands of street protesters. Moreover, the activists of these groups were continuously present during these protests. Some friends from the Office for Strengthening Unity have recently claimed that most students acted according to this group's wishes and remained in the universities during the events following the attack on Tehran University. The mass gatherings and street marches of thousands from July 18 to 21, 1999, which were predominantly composed of youth and students, clearly contradict this claim. These friends have also complained that some independent activists of the student movement have been presented as symbols of the July 9 uprising in the media and public opinion. The leaders of the July 9, 1999, uprising were thousands of students and protesting citizens who challenged the foundation of the rule of the clergy in the streets of Tehran and Tabriz. They chanted slogans like 'Death to Khamenei' and 'The murderers of the Forouhar family, under the cloak of the leader,' and their demands were not limited to the dismissal of the police chief and the presence of Khatami at the university dormitory but rather aimed at changing the dictatorial religious political system in Iran. Among this overwhelming crowd, those who had organizational activities and were known to security and judicial officials later faced heavy prison sentences and academic expulsion, naturally becoming symbols of that anti-despotism and freedom-seeking uprising. On the other hand, some friends from the Office for Strengthening Unity at that time should be asked what relationship the July 9, 1999, uprising has with the demands and views of the government reformists that they now speak of 'being appropriated' and 'victimization' of July 9? If the students and protesting citizens had accepted the demands of the Office for Strengthening Unity and instead of holding mass street gatherings and attacking the essence of the regime and its top figure, had remained in the university dormitory and declared their demands as those presented by the Office for Strengthening Unity, would Ali Khamenei have been willing to cry in front of the cameras and millions of Iranians in the weakest position he has held during his rule? The key to the enduring significance of July 9, contrary to the views of some friends from the Office for Strengthening Unity, lies in the broad and popular nature of the protests following the attack on the university dormitory and the breaking of the clergy's hegemony. Otherwise, in the years prior to this incident and the years following it, dozens and hundreds of student gatherings and meetings were held in university spaces, yet none achieved the status of July 9, 1999. The issuance of orders to confront the protesters by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and the presence of the Revolutionary Guards ultimately led to the suppression of the July 9 student uprising. Hundreds of student and political activists faced raids by security forces on their homes, and thousands of students and street protesters were arrested. While the government's repression machine was in full swing, the Office for Strengthening Unity announced its participation in the government rally on July 23, 1999. A government rally, similar to the one on December 30, 2009. The same rally where Hassan Rouhani, then Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran and the main speaker, insulted the protesters and promised severe government action against them. While death sentences were issued for four student activists and street protesters; Abbas Deldar, Mehrdad Lahrasbi, Ahmad Batabi, and Akbar Mohammadi (the latter two being members of the United Student Front), and a group of other independent student activists were sentenced to heavy prison terms, only a few members of the Islamic Associations affiliated with the Office for Strengthening Unity, including (Mahdi Fakhrzadeh), were imprisoned for a short time. Meanwhile, various factions within the regime, including government reformists, in unison with security apparatuses, labeled independent student groups and established political groups as the main agents of street protests, branding them as 'rioters' and 'extremists.' In conclusion, social movements and, consequently, the student movement in Iran are inherently part of civil society and serve as watchdogs of society, monitoring and critiquing the actions of rulers. Regarding the student movement, in addition to this characteristic, the fluidity and rotation of active forces must also be noted. The Office for Strengthening Unity, aware of this, shifted its approach after the attack on Tehran University dormitory, advocating slogans for moving beyond Khatami and independence from government reformists, becoming an important part of the Iranian student movement and paying significant costs in this regard; from the government's tactics to create parallel currents in universities and the closure of offices and confiscation of publications of this group to the summons, arrests, and expulsion of active members of the Office for Strengthening Unity. Some dear friends from the Office for Strengthening Unity have focused on a specific period of this group's activity on July 9, 1999, where many criticisms of this group's performance during that time are raised, rather than emphasizing the strengths of this group and its significant role in the Iranian student movement in the 2000s.