Students in the hostels maintained an all-night vigil last night, lighting fires outside their damaged dormitories as the entire area remained under siege by the regime's repressive forces. The students came to Tehran University this morning and held a huge demonstration as thousands of students from Tehran's other universities and higher education establishments rallied to their support.
At about 4 am this morning (local time) one of the students holding a vigil at the university hostel was shot in the eye by the Revolutionary Guards. He was transferred to hospital, but doctors have little hope he would survive.
Several contingents of the Revolutionary Guards and the special anti-riot unit of the State Security Forces were on hand as students demonstrated outside Tehran University. Students defied the heavy security presence and chanted familiar slogans of the massive demonstrations that brought down the Shah's regime two decades ago: "I will avenge my brother's murder" and "Let this be known: guns, tanks and machine-guns are no longer effective."
The students chanted slogans against the clerical regime's leaders and demanded the resignation of high-ranking officials, including that of Interior Minister Moussavi Lari. This morning, Higher Education Minister Mostafa Moin announced his resignation. In an earlier statement, his ministry had said the raid by the Revolutionary Guards on the university hostels had created "a national crisis."
The Revolutionary Guards have sealed off a large part of the areas around Tehran University since this morning, including Revolution Avenue running between Vali-Asr Intersection and Revolution Square. They have been checking the identities of passers-by and passengers and have arrested many students and young people, taking them away to unknown destinations on minibuses, buses and patrol cars of the State Security Forces.
Throughout Friday, the Revolutionary Guards raided several hospitals in the capital and abducted wounded students being treated there. This has scared off other students who were injured in the Thursday night attacks or in the ensuing clashes from going to hospitals for treatment.
Following the clashes of the past 36 hours, the regime's authorities have postponed for three days the examinations that were to be held in Tehran University on Saturday, fearing that a big gathering of students would lead to further unrest.
Areas around the students hostels in north Tehran remain under siege by the Revolutionary Guards, who prevent anyone from entering the area.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
July 10, 1999
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