In recent days, a new front of protests has emerged on university campuses across the country, including at an elite university in the capital besieged by security forces, according to activists and student groups. A national student group said that on Saturday students from more than 100 Iranian universities joined a call to boycott classes in solidarity with the protests.
Videos posted to social media on Monday also appeared to show young girls demonstrating in their schools and repeating some of the protest movement’s familiar slogans.
Khamenei – a frequent target of derision in protesters’ chants – said Amini’s death “broke our hearts” but called the reaction “unnatural”, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. . “How come some people don’t see the alien hand?” he was quoted as saying.
The protests, many of which are led by women, are fueled by a litany of grievances: fury over Amini’s death, the vice squad who detained her, and the mandatory restrictions, such as the wearing of headscarves, that she enforces, as well as a broader anger at security. Iran’s services, government and clerical establishment. Solidarity rallies with Iranian protesters have drawn thousands to cities around the world.
The government crackdown on protests has left at least 52 people dead, according to Amnesty International, and has included the use of live fire by security services and the throttling of internet service to prevent protesters from organizing.
Iran last week carried out deadly cross-border attacks in northern Iraq, targeting the headquarters of three Iranian Kurdish opposition parties that support the protests, a sign of growing government unease.
The protests began in predominantly Kurdish western Iran, where Amini is from and which shares a border with the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq.
Khamenei’s comments on Monday echoed those of other Iranian officials, including President Ebrahim Raisi, who blamed foreign enemies for the protests. Iranian authorities said on Friday they had arrested nine European nationals for their alleged role in the protests, in a move that could heighten tensions with the West.
“This week, the United States will impose additional costs on perpetrators of violence against peaceful protesters,” President Biden said in a statement Monday. “We will continue to hold Iranian officials to account and support the rights of Iranians to protest freely. »
Despite the mounting death toll, protests continued over the weekend and Monday, including on college campuses in nearly half a dozen cities, according to videos released by 1500 Tasvir, an anti-government group that monitors demonstrations.
Videos posted online showed students chanting for the release of students detained in previous crackdowns, expressing support for women and calling for the Supreme Leader to be killed. Security forces could be seen firing tear gas at Isfahan University students in another video. The Washington Post could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.
Protest sites included the elite Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, a highly selective academic institution often compared to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Security forces raided the university on Sunday, beating and arresting students, according to videos shared on social media, as well as Twitter messages posted by a student association.
Video posted on Sunday showed a stream of people fleeing what appeared to be a small battalion of officers on motorbikes outside the university. People can be heard screaming as loud explosions – likely gunshots or tear gas canisters being fired – ring out in steady succession. Another video showed a line of people, apparently under arrest, being driven into a large white van. The student group, the Sharif Islamic Association, said in a Twitter post that up to 40 students had been arrested.
“The Sharif University Islamic Student Association deems it necessary at this sensitive time to invite everyone to unite,” the group said in a statement posted on Twitter on Monday. “And we want all students and teachers at universities across the country to close classes as a sign of solidarity.”
