Iran sends students detained in protests to ‘psychological centers,’ says minister

Al-Arabia – Iran has sent high school students arrested during anti-government protests to “psychological centers” to prevent them from becoming “antisocial characters,” the country’s education minister said on Tuesday.

Yousef Nouri told Iran’s Sharq daily that detained students are kept in “psychological centres” rather than in prison and that they will be allowed back in school once they have been “reformed.”

“We don’t have any students in prison, and if they are detained, they are sent to psychological centres where experts are doing their work so the students can return to the school environment after they have been reformed,” he said.

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Asked about the number of students that have been detained, Nouri said: “There are not many of them. I cannot give exact figures.”

“In this situation and at this stage, these students may become antisocial characters, and we want to reform them,” he added.

University and high school students have been taking part in anti-government protests that erupted across Iran mid-September after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, died in police custody.

The protests have quickly escalated and turned political with demonstrations taking place country-wide. Protesters have been chanting against Khamenei and calling for the downfall of the regime.