Iran to shut down tense Tehran university campus
TEHRAN, June 30 (AFP) - Iranian authorities have decided to shut down Tehran University's main campus from July 7-14 in a bid to prevent any gatherings there to commemorate major student riots in 1999, press reports said Monday.
The reports, quoting a statement from Amir Abad campus authorities, comes after officials have already refused to allow any attempt to mark the anniversary of the July 9, 1999 unrest that saw at least one student die and hundreds arrested.
The statement said the decision to shut down the downtown complex was taken due to "excessive fatigue among campus staff". It said students staying on campus over the summer would be required to get a new access pass.
From June 10-20, the Amir Abad campus once again became the epicenter of protests showing widespread frustration with Iran's clerical leadership, as fierce clashes erupted between anti-regime protestors and Islamist vigilantes in the area around the campus.
The demonstrations also spread to other cities, and were marked by the unprecedented shouting of slogans targetting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A tough crackdown followed, resulting in the arrest of some 4,000 people, 2,000 of whom are still be held.
The events of July 1999 also saw violent clashes between armed extremist pro-regime groups and students. Some of the student leaders of those protests are still in jail.
Frustrations have been mounting in Iran over the deepening political deadlock between reformists in parliament and the relatively moderate President Mohammad Khatami on the one side and unelected but more powerful hardliners in the judiciary and legislative vetting bodies on the other.
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