Iran bans university gatherings on Students Day

Iran Focus: a pro-MEK website

Iranian students from Tehran’s University of Science and Technology plan to hold a demonstration on Tuesday against the refusal by authorities to permit a gathering on campus on Wednesday to mark Students Day in Iran.

Several student unions in the university will take part in the demonstration expected to start at noon on Tuesday. READ MORE

Universities across Iran have been instructed by authorities not to allow gatherings or special events to mark the day. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was previously expected to address one such gathering in Tehran on the day has since cancelled his speech.

A student activist from the Medical University of Gilan, northern Iran, told a state-run news agency that authorities had abruptly cancelled the permit for a gathering on campus during the anniversary of the bloody suppression of a rally outside Tehran University in 1953.

On December 7, 1953, three students were shot dead by policemen during a rally against the Shah’s dictatorship. The day has been named Students Day and commemorated on campuses across Iran every year.