IRAN: Iranian police clashed with students at one of the most renowned and prestigious universities on Sunday during protests over Mahsa Amini’s death, according to social and state media reports.
Reports have emerged that, amid the clashes, a large number of students at Sharif University in Tehran have been trapped in the campus car park.
Videos circulating on social media appear to show students running away from police, with apparent gunshots fired.
Anti-government protests erupted in Iran over the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman named Mahsa Amini, who was detained by Iran’s notorious ‘morality police’ over her “unsuitable attire” and eventually died in police custody.
Mahsa Amini, 22, fell into a coma, hours after morality police arrested her for allegedly breaking headscarf rules.
Officers reportedly bludgeoned Amini with a baton and banged her head against one of the vehicles. Meanwhile, the police have said that Amini’s death was caused by “sudden heart failure”, not by foul play by the police.
Protests have been sparked throughout the entire world, the worst civil unrest that Iran has witnessed in recent times.
One video posted on social media shows students running from security forces on Sharif University’s campus. Sounds resembling gunshots can be heard from a distance.
In another, security forces on motorbikes appear to shoot at a car holding the passenger filming the video.
Iran International cites reports that suggest that security forces attacked students in their dormitories and fired guns into their rooms. Other reports mention the use of tear gas on protesters.
Sunday was the first term for many of the fresher students attending Sharif University for the first time. Reports say crowds had gathered outside the campus’s main gate late in the evening after hearing about the clashes.
The last two nights have seen a massive escalation in anti-government protests all across Tehran and many other cities across the country, despite a growing death toll.
Iran Human Rights, a Norway-based NGO, says 133 people have been killed on record across the country.
Iran has vowed to impose a strict crackdown on these subjects of chaos and anarchy, who, they suggest, have been put to no good by external forces, especially the West, in an attempt to destabilise the Islamic Republic.
Also Read: Iran Lawmakers Thank Police For Protection Amid Growing Public Rage over Amini’s Death
