Revolutionary Guards prepare for student protests

Tehran University

Commander Ali Fazli, who reportedly played an important part in putting down the post-election protests, is calling for a meeting with Tehran University staff in order to coordinate a method of confronting the possible unrest in the universities. The Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards told ILNA that there is need to remain vigilant because he has heard rumours of protests being organized through universities.

Universities in Iran will start their new term in two weeks and the Supreme Leader in an earlier meeting with University students urged them to be wary of “enemy efforts” to create unrest in the universities.

Government officials are concerned that the opening of the universities could spark a new wave of protests.

In the first week of the June presidential elections in Iran a group of plainclothes officials attacked the university dorms in Tehran and Isphahan and violently beat and arrested a group of students. Currently a parliamentary panel is investigating the identity of the attackers but so far has not publicized its findings.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly spoken out against the persistent trend of arresting students in Iran and called for their release.