January 7, 2010

A group of Tehran Polytechnic University students have boycotted their term exams in protest to the arrest of 12 of their classmates. Amir Kabir University Student Newsletter reports 40 of the exams were boycotted starting three days ago.

University officials have warned that any student boycotting the exams will be severely punished. Deputy Minister of Science in charge of education and training, Hosein Nadermanesh told Iranian Student News Agency that students who do not show up to take their exams should consider themselves summarily flunked. He added that if the student’s absence is in any way deemed to be connected to the ongoing protests, further action against them will absolutely be taken. In the past few day 15 students have been summoned to the University Disciplinary Committee.

According Alef website, a media outlet close to Ahmad Tavakoli, a hardline member of the Islamic parliament, exams at the medical, pharmacology and dentistry departments of Tehran University have been delayed due to what the website refers to as ’student radicalism’.

Like the earlier announcements from the Polytechnic and Elm-o-Sanat (Science and Technology) Universities, Razi University students in Kermanshah have also announced that if the arrest of their classmates as well as continued attacks on the campus is the motivation behind their boycotting classes and exams as well.

In addition to widespread arrest of students, pro-government forces have repeatedly attacked students at the campuses in the past weeks and many students in Mashad were hospitalized with stab wounds in one of the recent attacks.

Compiled and translated from Persian to English by Planet Iran staff.