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Why Does the Iranian Regime Want Foreign Terrorist Groups to Study at Tehran University?

Students-protests
October 30 – Tehran, Iran – Members of the regime’s IRGC paramilitary Basij Force attacked the students at the Islamic Azad University Tehran North Branch.

Since early July, officials from Tehran University, one of Iran’s largest universities, announced that members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also called the Hashd-al-Shaabi, would be allowed to attend the university. The PMF is a terrorist militia group that acts as a proxy of Iran’s regime and has committed innumerable crimes in Iraq and the region. While the entry of military personnel into Iranian universities is not unprecedented and sends a clear message, the implications warrant examination.

On July 13, as reported by the state-run Taadol newspaper,  Mostafa Rostami, the representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader at universities, expressed his support for the presence of PMF forces in Iranian academic institutions and their willingness to cooperate. Mohammad Moghimi, the president of Tehran University, confirmed that the university would prioritize PMF members and work towards accepting students from countries aligned with the Resistance Axis.

The question arises: why is the regime now allowing foreign and paramilitary forces into universities? In contemporary Iranian history, universities were regarded as “Bastions of Freedom”. From the establishment of Tehran University in 1934 until the anti-monarchy revolution in 1979, Iranian universities were hubs of revolutionary and opposition movements, disseminating progressive ideas to society.

Throughout Iran’s history, students have wielded significant influence on society. During various earthquakes, students were the first to rush to crisis-stricken areas for assistance. During the Shah’s dictatorship, student movements organized numerous protests against monarchical tyranny.

In fear of Masoud Rajavi’s weekly classes at the Sharif University of Tehran whose recordings were later published and distributed across Iran, in 1980, then Supreme Leader Khomeini initiated the Cultural Revolution, shutting down all academic institutions, allegedly “to combat Westernism and Islamize the universities”. Until 1983, millions of young Iranians were deprived of higher education, facing the choice of joining the destructive war with Iraq, fleeing the country, or being suppressed under the regime.

The Khomeini regime, pressured by political and social discontent, reluctantly reopened universities in 1983. However, they sought to make the academic environment unsafe for its “enemies.” The regime systematically employed security forces for campus surveillance, allowed clerics and religious apprentices to infiltrate the academia, and created student Basij militias.

The Student Basij was formed on December 23, 1988, following orders from Khomeini. According to the decree, a Basij base was established in each university faculty, linked to the Basij’s regional resistance district under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Thus, each provincial IRGC corps had a Student Basij Resistance District and controlled several universities.

The Iranian regime actively facilitates and grants special privileges for the entry of Basij members into universities. This suggests that if Iranian citizens, under the burden of poverty and societal hardships, surrender integrity and engage in suppressing their fellow compatriots as desired by the regime, they will be rewarded with access to higher education and potential government positions.

The website daneshpezho.ir explicitly advertises this concept, stating: “Having a quota at all times can give you an advantage over your competitors. Even if your quota is small, it’s still better than having none. One such quota is the active Basij quota in the university entrance exam (Konkur). In this article, we provide detailed explanations about the active Basij quota in Konkur, admission to state universities, and postgraduate programs. We also discuss the conditions for utilizing this quota. So, stay with us to learn more.”

Article 1 of the ‘Law on Providing Facilities for the Admission of Combatants and Volunteer Jihadists to Universities and Higher Education Institutions’ states that, “from the date of its approval, the Ministries of Education, Culture and Higher Education, and Health, Treatment and Medical Education are required to establish preparatory classes before all entrance exams and scholarships, proportionate to combatants and volunteer jihadist Basij members who have served at least six consecutive or alternating months in operational areas during the war and are recommended through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. (Amendment 1996/07/15)

According to Taadol newspaper, the history of providing the first educational scholarships in Iran to foreign military personnel dates back to 1997. During that time, the “Palestine and University Council” was established under the initiative of Mostafa Moein, the Minister of Culture and Higher Education. The council’s creation was in alignment with the “Law on Supporting the Palestinian People’s Revolution.” Consequently, paramilitary mercenaries of the regime were granted access to enroll in universities.

In an attempt to curtail political activism, the clerical regime employed political maneuvers and propaganda and Iran’s academia was a primary target. One notable project, the so-called “Reforms Movement,” received substantial government funding and sought to transform students from political dissidents into insider critics. Despite these security and political measures, a significant anti-regime demonstration erupted in 1999, sparked by students at Tehran University. In just two days, the demonstration expanded to the entire capital and went on to challenge the integrity of the regime throughout Iran. In response,  then regime’s president Mohammad Khatami, who was presenting himself as a reformist to the world, was compelled to reveal his true nature and officially issued orders to crack down on the protests as the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). Former President Hassan Rouhani who was then the Head of the SNCS was also responsible for ordering the crackdown of those the regime deemed “rioters”.

In 2017, during the widespread protests, where people took to the streets and called for regime change across Iran, the regime activated another security plan. They attempted to create the illusion that some of the protestors were seeking the revival of a dictatorship that the previous generation of Iranians had toppled. Using certain Basij bases and the slogan “Rest in Peace, Reza Shah,” they aimed to paint the protesters as pro-dictatorship. However, the students’ counter-slogan “Death to the oppressor, be it the Shah or the Leader” quickly spread throughout Iran, countering the regime’s narrative.

Students in Iran's universities chant: Down with the Oppressor, Be it the Shah or the Supreme Leader

Furthermore, in the same uprising, students at the University of Tehran declared the demise of the regime’s reform project with the slogan “Reformists, Principalists, the game is over.” This slogan also quickly spread throughout Iran and was prominently echoed in the uprising that followed the downing of the PS752 passenger plane by the IRGC in January 2020.

During the 2022 Uprising, the role of universities was particularly prominent. For several months, students led daily protests on university campuses and streets. By spreading the slogan “Death to the oppressor, be it the Shah or the Leader” across the nation and beyond, they demonstrated the Iranian people’s firm stance against any form of dictatorship.

Over the past four decades, the clerical regime has continuously attempted to cleanse universities of intellectualism and awareness using various security and political schemes. However, successive generations of Iranians have proven in every uprising that these measures are ultimately futile. The success of the recent project involving the Hashd-al-Shaabi at Tehran University and its potential expansion throughout Iran will ultimately be determined by the course of the next uprising.