Iran Universities May Go Virtual Amid Protest Fears
The Iranian regime is mulling over holding university lectures online to reduce chances of campus protests on the first anniversary of Women, Life, Freedom movement.
The Iranian regime is mulling over holding university lectures online to reduce chances of campus protests on the first anniversary of Women, Life, Freedom movement.
The government is weighing online classes for the first 10 days of the upcoming academic year in September, coinciding with the death of Mahsa Amini in hijab police custody that triggered the nationwide uprising.
The move follows the summoning of students and former detainees as part of the regime's preparations to maintain control during a sensitive period.
Mehdi Golshani, Director General of Public Transport and Regional Affairs of Tehran Municipality confirmed discussions with relevant educational institutions regarding the possibility of virtualizing university classes starting from September 23.
Golshani explained that this proposition aims to "reduce traffic in the capital," though a final decision is yet to be made.
The announcement has sparked reactions from citizens on social media, with some interpreting it as an indication of the regime's apprehension about potential protests.
A critic voiced skepticism about the effectiveness of the plan, stating, "I find it unlikely that the virtualization of university classes will have an effect on the desired traffic situation!"
Recent days have witnessed increased security measures, including the summoning of students from various universities, alongside detainees from the previous uprising against the Islamic Republic.
Mostafa Rostami, the head of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's representative in universities, expressed concern on July 21, stating, "The enemy has not given up and they have announced that the university is the first place where new riots should start."
A prominent ‘reformist’ politician also argues that the current popular distrust in the government leads the authorities to use a security approach against the people.
At the same time, a former Deputy Intelligence Minister and Government Spokesman says despite the nationwide uprising that started in September 2022, there is no prospect for change and reform in the country.
Former budget chief Massoud Roghani Zanjani speaking in a Club House chat session that years of inflation and poverty have brought the popular dissatisfaction to a peak and laid the ground for protests in Iran.
Zanjani said that the current crisis is the outcome of clerics' intervention in politics and the conflict between elected and non-elected bodies in the government. He added that the non-elected bodies are where the clerics' power centers are.
He further added that "When absolute power was given to the Supreme Leader in the 1987 revision of the Iranian Constitution, it was in fact similar to crossing out all other articles of the Constitution." He pointed out that since then, Ali Khamenei has undermined the Constitution by actions such as giving executive powers to the heads of the three branches of the government.
Zanjani said one of the reasons for the country's economic crisis is that Iran has two treasuries, one for the government, and another for Khamenei's office. He further charged that privileges given to the clerics has created an apartheid regime in their favor.
Meanwhile, prominent reformist figure Feyzollah Arabsorkhi said in an interview with Rouydad24 website that people's distrust of the government, has encouraged officials to use security measures as a tool against the people.
He added that what is going on in the parliament and the government is diagonally different from what people expect. Arabsorkhi said, "Just look at the government's views about the Internet and social media. It reflects the views of the hard core of the government about freedom of speech.” Under these circumstances, you cannot expect the people to trust the government when it tries all the time to restrict people's access to the Internet.
"People's distrust in the government and its efficiency are currently the biggest problems the authorities are facing," Arabsorkhi said, adding that "People do not believe what rulers say, and if the government wishes to correct this situation it should respond positively to popular demands and expectations.
He added that the hijab law that is currently being discussed secretly at the parliament without paying attention to the people's views and expectations is one of the examples why Iranians have lost trust in the government. The state television which could have acted as mediator between the people and the government acts so unilaterally that there is no trace of the people's demands in its programming.
Meanwhile, former government spokesman Ali Rabiei wrote in Etemad Online website that there is still no prospect for reforms and correcting mistakes made by the government despite several months of nationwide protests.
"On the contrary, in some cultural issues we see that the government is putting a step back," Rabiei said, presumably referring to compulsory hijab.
Rabiei insisted that failure to bring about a clear prospect for reforms in foreign and economic policies, and improve governance will adversely affect turnout in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
