Iran offered a muted warning on Tuesday for students who staged anti-government rallies, with the country’s leaders under pressure after a recent mass protest movement and threats of US military action over its nuclear programme.
University students kicked off a new semester over the weekend with gatherings in which they revived slogans from nationwide protests against the country’s clerical leadership that peaked in January and were met by a deadly crackdown.
On Tuesday, the fourth consecutive day of the campus protests, videos verified by AFP showed two groups facing off in a large hall at a Tehran university — one waving Iranian flags and the other chanting anti-government slogans — before scuffles break out.
The day before students had burned the flag that was adopted by Iran’s Islamic republic after the 1979 revolution that toppled the monarchy, according to verified videos.
Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani, giving the first official reaction to the rallies, said on Tuesday that while students had a right to protest, they must “understand the red lines”.
The flag, she added, was one “of these red lines that we must protect and not cross or deviate from, even at the height of anger”.
She said Iran’s students “have wounds in their hearts and have seen scenes that may upset and anger them; this anger is understandable”.
The initial wave of protests began in December, sparked by economic woes in the sanctions-hit country, but soon grew into nationwide demonstrations that crested on January 8 and 9, posing one of the largest challenges to Iran’s leaders in years.
The unrest prompted a violent government crackdown that killed thousands of people.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has recorded more than 7,000 deaths, while warning the full toll is likely far higher.
Source: Insider Paper
