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rferl.org – Iranian students have slammed a government decision to admit members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) to local universities, characterizing the move as a “militarization” of school campuses.
Student groups from Tehran University on July 14 said they would resist the presence of the militants on campus, “regardless of whether they are in combat or academic attire,” while the Free Association of Tehran’s Polytechnic University issued a statement describing the decision to allow Shi’ite paramilitaries from Iraq into Iranian universities as a “new war” aimed at suppressing student protests.
Universities and students have long been at the forefront of the struggle for greater social and political freedoms in Iran and following recent nationwide protests — which have provided the biggest threat to the Islamic regime since the revolution in 1979 — pressure has increased on universities across the country.
Officials have arrested student activists and leaders, sentencing them to prison and banning them from studying, while increasing surveillance on campuses to enforce dress codes.
Many have faced sentences such as imprisonment, flogging, and dozens of students have been expelled from universities or suspended from their studies, as security forces try to stifle dissent.
The plan was first announced on July 9 with officials calling it a “cooperation agreement” that will see PMF forces attend as ‘students.’
The student unions argued that bringing in the Iraqi PMF members as students represents the last-ditch efforts of a collapsing regime to demonstrate power and a continuation of the expulsion and suspension of protesting students to suppress free thought at Iranian universities.
They added that authorities have been trying to free up space with these disciplinary moves and are now filling the places that have been vacated with auxiliary forces from Iraqi military groups.
The statement also criticizes the Islamic republic’s approach to education, arguing that it has become a commodity, with entrance exams commercialized and quotas in place. This, they argue, has taken away opportunities from hardworking and disadvantaged individuals.
Mohammad Zolfi Gol, the minister of science in President Ebrahim Raisi’s government, rejected the students’ arguments saying that admissions to Iranian universities are done in various ways and claimed that the entry of PMF members into Tehran University will be achieved while sticking to “scientific standards.” He didn’t elaborate.
The activist HRANA news agency says that at least 700 university students have been arrested during the recent unrest.
