Death to dictator

More than 4,000 students gathered outside Engineering College of Tehran University to mark the National Student Day on Sunday.

A large number of students from other universities and colleges in the capital such as Polytechnic (Amirkabir), Indusial University, Abbaspour, Science and Technology and Rajai joined the protest.

The State Security Forces (SSF) --mullahs' suppressive police-- and other security agents from the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) blocked the main entrance to the school. However, the students broke the gate to 16-Azar Street and joined the gathering already in progress.

Students chanted anti-government slogans such as, "Death to dictator," "Student will die but will not be humiliated" and "Ahmadinejad is responsible for destruction in Iran."

Iranian universities are hotbeds of student activism and protests are common despite strict control on campus since the early days of mullahs' rule.

 Last year, the Student Day was marked on December 9, Iranian students in universities across Iran staged demonstrations, chanting anti-government slogans and calling for the release of the detained students.

At Tehran University, the protesters chanted slogans against Ahmadinejad and carried banners calling for the release of three fellow students who have been held since May, the state-run media such as Fars news agency and IRNA reported.

"The students marched on the gate and damaged it... The students chanted slogans and carried protesting placards," IRNA reported. According to the eyewitnesses, SSF agents had initially shut the main gate in to prevent large numbers gathering for the protest, but the students broke the gate so that others could enter.

"Ahmadi-Pinochet, Iran will not become Chile!", "Death to dictator," "Free all political prisoners," "University is wide awake," "University is the last barricade," "Students die but will not be humiliated," "Mr. President the student movement will stand until the end",
 chanted the students.

NCRI – On the anniversary of Student Day, the State Security Forces (SSF) --mullahs' suppressive police-- fired tear gas into the crowd of students at Boali Sina University in the western city of Hamedan.

SSF agents tried to force students out of Humanities College by using tear gas. But they met stiff resistance from the students chanting slogans and singing songs related to past student protests.

SSF units were assigned to stop student gatherings from taking place outside the college.

Last year, the Student Day was marked on December 9, Iranian students in universities across Iran staged demonstrations, chanting anti-government slogans and calling for the release of the detained students.

At Tehran University, the protesters chanted slogans against Ahmadinejad and carried banners calling for the release of three fellow students who have been held since May, the state-run media such as Fars news agency and IRNA reported.

"The students marched on the gate and damaged it... The students chanted slogans and carried protesting placards," IRNA reported. According to the eyewitnesses, SSF agents had initially shut the main gate in to prevent large numbers gathering for the protest, but the students broke the gate so that others could enter.

"Ahmadi-Pinochet, Iran will not become Chile!", "Death to dictator," "Free all political prisoners," "University is wide awake," "University is the last barricade," "Students die but will not be humiliated," "Mr. President the student movement will stand until the end",
chanted the students.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – A 5.6 magnitude earthquake hit an area in southern Iran, Iran's state Press TV reported on Sunday, giving no detail of any damage.

"Magnitude 5.6 quake rocks Dargahan area in south Iran," the English-satellite television station said in a scrolling headline, without specifying the time it struck.

Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, is criss-crossed by faultlines and often experiences earthquakes.

(Writing by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Charles Dick)

Three prisoners identified only by their initials as M.M., P.D. and A.R. were hanged by the mullahs' judiciary in the southeastern city of Zahedan, reported the semi-official news agency Fars on Saturday.

On November 21, the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly passed a resolution expressing deep concern over human rights violations by the ruling clerics in Iran.
 

The UN document reads in part: "Torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment such as flogging and amputations, public executions, stoning as a method of execution, execution of persons who were below 18 years of age at the time their offence was committed, arrests of and violent crackdowns on women exercising their right to assembly, increasing discrimination and other human rights violations against persons belonging to religious, ethnic, linguistic or other minorities, ongoing and serious restrictions of freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association, and the increasing harassment, intimidation and persecution of human rights defenders," are a common practice in Iran.
NCRI