Proposal for Free Education for Gaza Students in Iran; Increasing Restrictions and Problems for Iranian Students

While students at various universities across the country are facing a wave of summons, suspensions, and expulsions before and after the start of the new academic year, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard's Academic Jihad has stated that students from Gaza can study for free in Iran. The Iran Watch website reported on Thursday, October 19, that Hassan Mousavi Naeini, the head of the Academic Jihad, said that all universities, educational institutions, and research centers of this organization are ready to accept and educate students from Gaza universities, and these students can study in Iran for free. He added: 'The academic community of Islamic Iran, with a worried heart and tearful eyes, is witnessing the events in Israel and the bloodshed of innocent people in Gaza.' Earlier this summer, Mohammad Ghaemi, the president of Tehran University, expressed interest and readiness to accept students from the Iraqi paramilitary group 'Hashd al-Shaabi' at Tehran University in a meeting with them. The Telegram channel of the Student Guild Councils reported in late October this year about increasing security pressures on students at universities across Iran following a wave of summons, suspensions, and expulsions of students. Previously, the expulsion of professors critical of the government and supportive of nationwide protests in Iranian universities had faced widespread protests from academic activists and students. The Jam-e Jam newspaper, the press organ of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, described universities as 'a breeding ground for opposition' in early September, stating: 'Universities have practically become a breeding ground for a generation of opposition within the country over the past decades and have also trained specialized forces for capitalist movements outside the borders, while for a long time, concerned individuals have warned that the continuation of the current situation in universities will only lead to an increase in the gap in revolutionary values.'