Permission Granted for 60 Expelled Medical Students 'Believing in the System' to Return to University

The Deputy Minister of Cultural and Student Affairs of the Ministry of Health stated that 60 expelled medical students who have 'complete faith in the system and the country' have returned to universities this academic year. Masoud Habibi said in a press conference on Sunday, December 4, that these students are 'interested in studying and serving the country' and added that the rulings issued against these students have been 'suspended and their cases are under review.' Habibi equated 'faith in the system' with 'faith in the country' but did not provide details on how this 'faith' of the 60 expelled students would be assessed. He further mentioned that 'these expelled students exhibited behaviors in an unstable environment that led to rulings against them in the years 1401 and 1402.' However, the Deputy Minister did not clarify whether these rulings were issued by university disciplinary committees or were judicial and security rulings. In this context, Hossein Simayi-Sarraf, the Minister of Science, Research and Technology, stated on September 25 of this year that the return of detained students and professors or those with judicial cases is the responsibility of a working group from the judiciary. The Minister also expressed doubt about the re-examination of the cases of expelled students and professors. Three weeks after this statement, the Deputy Minister of Science announced the review and reconsideration of several student cases and the violation of some rulings issued by disciplinary committees. Universities were significant centers of protest during the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement, and many students faced disciplinary, judicial, and security rulings for participating in protests and not adhering to mandatory hijab regulations, resulting in their expulsion. In addition, the Deputy Minister of Health mentioned the poisoning of 40 medical students from Shushtar University, stating that 'last night, 700 students from Shushtar University consumed cafeteria food, and 40 experienced symptoms of poisoning.' He added, '15 of these students were hospitalized.' Habibi did not provide further details on the cause of these poisonings, stating that the condition of the 15 hospitalized students 'was not serious and samples have been sent to the laboratory.' Student activists have previously warned about the poor quality of food in Iranian universities, and many students have protested and gone on strike over this issue in recent years. In one of the latest incidents, Iranian media reported two weeks ago that at least 70 students in the dormitory of Tehran Teacher Training University suffered food poisoning, a claim that the university denied. This news came out a week after 10 students from Hamadan Industrial University were hospitalized due to food poisoning, leading other students to stage a protest by placing cafeteria trays on the ground.