Thousands of university students supporting the green movement joined the lines of people on the streets in large cities across the nation from the morning hours of November 4.  Yesterday, the large squares and university campuses in large cities were the scenes of clashes between protesting students and government security and anti-riot police forces.

According to various reports received by Rooz, universities in Tehran, Ghazvin, Isfahan, Mashad, Tabriz, Shiraz, Kerman and Ahvaz had eventful days, as the heavy presence of government forces, including plain-clothed militamen, Basiji and anti-riot forces on and around university campuses was not able to prevent students from joining people on the streets.  

Tehran University

Tehran University students gathered in front of the university campus from 9 am in groups of several hundred students, despite having spent the past month and a half in a heavily militarized atmosphere.  Chanting anti-government slogans, the students marched from the university campus towards large squares and areas identified by Mehdi Karoubi, one of the candidates who continues to oppose the election coup.

An interesting aspect of the remarkable presence of university students in Tehran yesterday was that, in two places, the students read and distributed pamphlets calling on all students and green-clad protesters to prepare themselves for the 16 Azar (December 6) protests.

A number of Tehran University students were arrested and transported to an unknown location.  No credible news about their names or number has yet been released, due to the hacking of many websites and blogs associated with student activists.

Ghazvin University

The situation was different at the Imam Khomeini University in Ghazvin, which was surrounded by Basiji and plain-clothed forces since the early morning.  More than two thousand protesting students were kept behind the university’s closed gates and not allowed to leave the campus area.  In response, the students chanted anti-government slogans and did not allow a ceremony organized by university administrators and the Basij to take place.

Shahid Beheshti University

Students at Kerman’s Shahid Beheshti University also held an impressive gathering under the watchful eyes of the Basij and security forces.  At 10 am students left the campus area and joined the public without any clashes or violence.

Shiraz University

The protest of Shiraz University students, numbered at three thousand, was witness to sporadic violence and clashes on campus.  Security forces did not allow students to leave the campus, and instead attacked them with batons and cold weapons several times, injuring many and arresting some students.

Mashad and Isfahan

In Mashhad and Isfahan students had an unprecedented presence in yesterday’s rallies.  In Mashad the silent protest of more than six thousand students was violently attacked by anti-riot forces.  Some sources estimate that at least 60 students were injured and more than 100 were arrested.

Reports from Isfahan reveal that, in addition to the arrest of a large number of students, several members of the Industrial University’s Islamic Student Association, including Ali Mahsmooli, have been arrested and transported to an unknown location.

Tabriz and Ahvaz

In Tabriz, thousands of Sahand University students joined the crowds chanting “Ya Hussein, Mir-Hossein,” and in Ahvaz students carried green symbols and posters of the green movement’s leaders and political prisoners while chanting against the coup government.