Students Protest Against 'Medicalian's Election Rally'; Several Members of the Islamic Association of Tehran University Resign

A group of members from the Islamic Association of Students at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Tehran University resigned in protest against 'Masoud Pezeshkian's election rally' at the university and announced the association's support for 'the reformist candidate of the government.' According to a report from the Telegram channel 'Amirkabir Reporter' on Tuesday, June 18, the resigning students stated in a statement that the revival of the association's activities 'shortly before the beginning of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement' aimed to 'create a platform for student activities independent of political currents outside the university,' but 'the result of two years of continuous efforts for change did not lead anywhere.' The protesting students claimed that 'self-interest and demands for privileges, the exclusion of individuals by the group and the university, the logic of preserving the institution even at the cost of antagonism with society, the lack of clear red lines, and the absence of any boundaries for action' were among the factors that hindered this effort. They added in their statement: 'Recent events, such as the transformation of the association into an election headquarters, were the last necessary signs to prove the irreformability of this so-called student institution.' The resigning members of the General Council of the Islamic Association of Students at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Tehran University also emphasized their 'disalignment with this group' and stated that 'we announce our resignation from this group.' Masoud Pezeshkian, one of the six candidates considered by the Guardian Council to succeed Ebrahim Raisi, responded to student criticisms during a meeting held by this student body at Tehran University, saying: 'I accept the leadership and I am devoted to the leadership. You have no right to insult someone I believe in.' The next presidential election in the Islamic Republic, which many view as 'appointments' and a 'circus election,' will be held early on July 8 to determine the president of the fourteenth government following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. Previously, several political figures emphasized that Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Saeed Jalili, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Alireza Zakani, Masoud Pezeshkian, and Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh, the six candidates to succeed Raisi, are all agents of the Islamic Republic in opposition to the Iranian people. Among them, Amir Etemadi, a political figure opposing the Islamic Republic, referred to the candidate recognized as the representative of the reformists in this election and stated: 'Even considering the Islamic Republic's false statistics, Pezeshkian received 112,000 and 96,000 votes in the regime's election circuses in 1398 and 1402, respectively, which is less than 10 percent of the total eligible voters in Tabriz.' According to him, Pezeshkian 'has come only to heat up the oven' and 'it seems that Khamenei and the reformists have made a deal that benefits both.' He added, 'Khamenei, by endorsing the reformist candidate, has taken their 2-3 percent vote basket and, more importantly, maintained the appearance that his election circus is competitive. In contrast, the reformists still see themselves in the power game and, more importantly, at the table of the revolution.' Furthermore, Mahbubeh Rezaei, a political prisoner held in the women's ward of Evin Prison, described the holding of 'mock elections' to succeed Ebrahim Raisi as 'fake appointments' and emphasized that 'if elections were impactful,' the Islamic Republic 'would certainly not give the people the right to choose.' Golrokh Iraei, another political prisoner, also stressed that the Iranian people 'remember the betrayal of the reformists from the very first day' and that the reformists use the people as 'extras' to return to power.