Sit-in by Two Starred Students in Protest Against Minister of Science

Reports from Tehran indicate that Majid Dary and Mahdieh Golroo, two students deprived of education, have staged a sit-in in front of the Ministry of Science to protest the Minister's denial of the issue of 'starred students' and their continued exclusion from university education. The sit-in began on Sunday, December 17. In an interview with the 'Emtedad' website, close to reformists, Majid Dary stated that the main reason for his sit-in was the Minister's interview, and he intends to ask Mr. Gholami what his statements meant. Mansour Gholami, the Minister of Science, Research, and Technology in Hassan Rouhani's government, stated on Saturday, December 16, that there are no 'political starred students' in Iran and that the problem for 'most' of these students is a 'file deficiency.' He added that 'the issues of many of these students have been resolved with the efforts of the Assessment Organization and other officials, and only a few remain whose cases are also being processed.' In response, Majid Dary told Emtedad that he intends to ask the Minister, 'What is the reason that Zia Nabavi has been in prison for 10 years? What is the reason I have not been able to attend university for 10 years?' Mahdieh Golroo also tweeted on Tuesday, December 18, 'Yesterday, the Minister of Science was not present. We will go today. Maybe he will be there and answer our question: why have we been deprived of education for 10 years?' Mahdieh Golroo and Majid Dary were deprived of education due to their student activities in the early years of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency and were arrested and imprisoned during the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election. Majid Dary was released after six years, and Mahdieh Golroo after two years and four months in prison. The two, along with several other deprived students, formed a group called the 'Council for the Defense of the Right to Education' and held gatherings to protest the deprivation of students' education. Zia Nabavi, another member of this council, was arrested in 2009 and remains imprisoned. Prior to the Minister's statements, reports had emerged regarding the deprivation of students from education during Hassan Rouhani's government. For instance, the newspaper 'Jame'e Farda' reported on December 9 that at least 150 master's and doctoral students had been starred in October of this year and were faced with 'file deficiency messages' and were barred from entering universities. Following that, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of parliament from Tehran, announced on Sunday, December 10, that 27 students at the master's and doctoral levels had been deprived of education this academic year, and 549 had returned to university with 'commitments.' These reports were published at a time when Hassan Rouhani had promised during the 2013 election campaign to reinstate deprived students to universities and eliminate the 'security atmosphere' in universities. The term 'starred students' refers to those students who have been deprived of continuing their education since 2006, during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, often for political and ideological reasons. However, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated in the 2009 presidential debates that the issue of 'starred students' began under previous governments.