After participating in an anti-government protest on campus, the social sciences student was called into a disciplinary hearing at his university and faced an intimidating panel: It included a cleric representing Iran’s supreme leader and an official who refused to identify himself.
asserted
who → participate → himself
The questioning they gave him underscored Iranian officials’ seriousness in rooting out dissenters at universities after crushing massive demonstrations in January and after the eruption of war with the United States.
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they → give → States
The cleric and the official asked: When former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in airstrikes at the beginning of the war on Feb. 28, “what did you feel?”
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you → ask → what
Scores of university students around Iran are facing similar hearings for joining protests, according to Iranian student unions and outside rights monitors.
uncertain
Scores → face → unions
It’s another side of authorities’ campaign to silence dissent as the war and a monthslong U.S. naval blockade worsen Iran’s economic crisis.
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war → ’ → crisis
With Iranian leaders and U.S. President Donald Trump both threatening a possible return to escalated fighting, many students fear the heat on them will only increase.
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heat → threaten → them
The Associated Press spoke by phone and messaging apps with half a dozen student protesters in Iran facing disciplinary procedures, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution.
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all → speak → retribution
Students brought before panels face potential expulsion or even a ban from further study at any university.
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Students → bring → university
The repercussions can extend beyond campus walls.
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repercussions → extend → walls
Some have been fired from their jobs or have faced death threats or other harassment when details of their cases become public.
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details → fire → cases
“It puts an extraordinary psychological pressure on people.
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It → put → people
I mean for me, it’s unspeakable,” said the social sciences student.
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student → mean → me
Authorities view campus activism as a threat
The disciplinary measures followed college protests that sprouted up parallel to the wave of demonstrations that began in late December, triggered by a currency crash.
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that → view → crash
Those demonstrations quickly grew into the largest nationwide protests since the 1979 Iranian revolution.
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demonstrations → grow → revolution
Security forces crushed them by opening fire, killing thousands and arresting thousands of others.
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forces → crush → others
Even after that, smaller campus protests persisted, up to the eve of the Feb. 28 U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran that triggered the war.
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that → persist → war
In February, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, Iran’s hard-line judiciary chief, said judicial authorities would get involved in prosecuting crimes on campuses if educational authorities were unable to control them.
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authorities → say → them
The weeks of heavy U.S. and Israeli bombardment of Iran put university measures against students on hold.
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weeks → put → hold
But since the summer, students began being called into hearings.
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students → begin → hearings
As universities reopened last month, a top cleric warned that campus dissent was a threat to Iran’s rulers that must be ended.
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that → reopen → rulers
“The enemy wants to start internal pressure from the university environment and follow it throughout the country,” said Ahmad Alamolhoda, who is the Friday prayer leader in the eastern shrine city of Mashhad and the supreme leader’s representative in the province.
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who → want → province
He called on universities to “track down any offending element in the university and prepare the ground for dealing with them.”
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He → call → them
Iranian authorities are still arresting and prosecuting protesters tied to the January protests, with some facing the death penalty.
asserted
some → arrest → penalty
At panels, students face pressure to recant
The number of expulsions and suspensions remains unclear.
uncertain
number → face → expulsions
But the “severity of action” has risen compared with past crackdowns, explained Ali Taghipour, an exiled Iranian activist who tracks student protests.
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who → rise → protests
The process can take several months, with several levels of hearings before the ministry overseeing universities signs off on any punishments.
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ministry → take → punishments
Shargh, a reformist newspaper, reported last month a growing tally of expulsions at half a dozen universities in the capital.
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Shargh → report → capital
At least 10 students have been expelled at the University of Tehran, another 10 at Amir Kabir University, and others have been handed suspensions.
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others → expel → suspensions
AP has been unable to independently verify these particular cases.
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AP → verify → cases
The procedures appear geared toward intimidating students into silence.
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procedures → gear → silence
The social sciences student and another student both said administrators forced them to write out their defenses even before being told the charges against them — leaving them guessing about what to put down.
The social sciences student’s charges included participating in an “illegal gathering.”
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charges → say → gathering
His personal contact details were also published on pro-government social media channels, and he now fears being attacked by government supporters.
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he → publish → supporters
Students describe pressure from university officials to recant anti-government stances in order to avoid punishment.
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Students → describe → punishment
“The main emphasis in all the universities is that students admit they’ve done something wrong, and they’ve used all their efforts to make it into a psychological war,” said a humanities student in Tehran who has also faced disciplinary action.
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who → admit → action
He shared screenshots with the AP of phone messages calling him a “traitor” and threatening violence against him and his family.
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He → share → him
The messages came after pro-government social media channels published his identity and contact information.
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channels → come → identity
Members of the feared Basij sit on some panels
At Sharif University, one of Iran’s most elite schools, administrators have reviewed action against some 250 students, its student union president Farzad Rahmani told the reformist media outlet Ensaf.
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Rahmani → sit → outlet
At least 40 of those students have faced hearings so far, and 10 have been expelled, he said.
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he → face → hearings
Disciplinary hearings usually involve university administrators, faculty members, a representative of the supreme leader and the campus security agency, known as Harasat, which operates under the Intelligence Ministry and monitors political loyalty to Iran’s theocracy.
asserted
which → involve → theocracy
Members of the feared Basij volunteer militia, which maintains a presence on university campuses, also often participate.
“The role of the Basij and the Harasat is very strong,” Taghipour said, explaining that they typically identify suspect students and gather cases against them.
asserted
they → maintain → them
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
