Three students were taken to a hospital after officials at a girls’ technical school in Shahr-e Rey south of Tehran allegedly assaulted pupils during searches for mobile phones, according to videos and eyewitness accounts sent to Iran International.
Tehran Province’s education chief Yousef Baharloo said tensions at the school erupted on Wednesday after staff confiscated several students’ phones, adding that he had received no reports of physical injury to the students.
But eyewitnesses drew a different picture.
“They grabbed us by the collars in groups when we entered the school and dragged us inside. They forced us to kneel and threw our belongings on the ground. They touched our private parts and checked our bodies completely,” one student said.
“On the pretext of taking mobile phones and picking on us for our hijabs, they went after the students. They even sent the Special Unit and closed the school gate,” another eye witness said, referring to security forces.
Videos and images shared with Iran International appeared to show emergency personnel and ambulances at the school following the altercation.
The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, raised fresh concerns about student safety and oversight by Iran’s Education Ministry.
Families gathered outside the school on Wednesday in protest, but the principal was not present. Security forces were later deployed around the site.
"The school principal even criticized the students' hairstyles and appearance, and during inspections, he treated them with very vulgar language and violent behavior,” a third eyewitness said, describing the original altercation.
"The principal would beat the students and throw their phones at them," the eyewitness added. "He even smashed the camera of one of the students, whose major was photography, against the wall."
The case follows earlier incidents this year, including the suicide of a 12-year-old student in Shiraz in October and the death of a 14-year-old in Zanjan in August after punishment at school, which have intensified concern about violence and a lack of accountability in Iran’s education system.
"We have informed their families, and the vessel is now free to resume normal operations," Reuters quoted the manager as saying.
The Guards said on Saturday that rapid-reaction units intercepted the tanker near the Makran coast under a judicial order to confiscate its cargo. State media quoted sources saying the vessel carried about 30,000 tons of petrochemical products owned by Iran that were being transferred illegally to Singapore.
Fars news agency said the ship was directed to an Iranian anchorage for inspection and was found to be in breach of rules on transporting unauthorized goods. The Guards said the operation was carried out under legal authority “to protect national interests.”
Vessel diverted from UAE waters
The Talara, operated by Cyprus-based Columbia Shipmanagement and owned by Pasha Finance, had been sailing from Sharjah to Singapore with a load of high-sulphur gasoil when contact was lost on Nov. 15. Maritime security firm Ambrey said the tanker was about 22 nautical miles east of the UAE port of Khor Fakkan when small boats approached and the vessel changed course toward Iranian waters.
Iran has stepped up maritime enforcement in the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz in recent months, citing efforts to curb fuel smuggling. The seizure came amid continuing legal cases involving other foreign vessels detained by Iranian forces in past incidents.
The operator said on Tuesday the ship and crew were in good condition and that the Talara would soon resume normal operations.
Women and men who defy the government—by appearing unveiled or sharing critical content—have in recent weeks discovered their SIM cards abruptly disabled, locking them out of banking, public services and even judicial notices.
The tactic signals a shift toward low-visibility punishment that avoids the spectacle and political cost of arrests.
The shutdowns come without warning.
Donya Rad, a script supervisor who became an early symbol of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement after posting an unveiled photo in a Tehran teahouse in 2022, said this month that her line had been cut under what officials described as “special measures.”
Rad, who was arrested shortly after that photo went viral, drew fresh attention last month after sharing an image of herself in shorts on a Tehran street.
Shortly afterward, her SIM was blocked. And it remains so weeks later.
“Because I can’t make online purchases—no SIM card, no verification codes—I think I should go on a diet,” she posted on X on Sunday.
“I’ve already had to ask (my sister) Dina to buy my theater tickets, top up my internet, book hotels. I’m going to bed so I don’t end up texting her to order food for me too,” she joked.
‘Communication is my right’
Rad’s post triggered a wave of responses from others who had not previously publicized their own blocking—and the cascade of problems that followed.
Parisa Salehi, a journalist and former political prisoner, said her SIM had been cut months earlier, also without notice. She wrote on X that she refuses to petition prosecutors for its reinstatement.
“Communication is my right,” she said. “My life is already disrupted. I’ve been expelled from university, lost my job, served prison, and now can’t even access the court-notification system.”
Others described being shut out of essential services like banking that require mobile-number verification.
Women’s-rights advocates say the practice is designed to punish and pressure women into conforming to state-mandated dress codes.
New tools of control
The tactic has expanded well beyond hijab enforcement.
After the 12-day war between Israel and Iran earlier this year, security agencies disabled the SIM cards of dozens of citizens in an effort to control reporting and mute criticism.
Several said they were instructed to delete posts, sign pledges not to criticize the government and publish supportive content before their numbers would be restored.
Former journalist turned podcaster Elaheh Khosravi said on X that she will soon lose access to her account and urged followers to keep listening to her podcast. Rad herself promoted Khosravi’s latest episode.
Saeed Sozangar, a network-security instructor and active X user, condemned the tactic as a perversion of Iran’s digital infrastructure.
“E-government has become a tool of control in the hands of a reckless state,” he wrote. “Practices that are illegal even under this system are being carried out casually, with zero accountability.”
No basis in law
Legal experts have also criticized the practice.
In an interview with the moderate daily Shargh, attorney Shahla Orooji said that only a court can impose punishment, and only if it is explicitly provided for in law.
“This measure is neither recognized as a primary punishment nor a supplementary one,” she said. “It is a deprivation of rights and unlawful.”
Another lawyer, Mohammad Oliaei-Fard, said the cutoffs violate the Islamic Republic’s own constitutional protections.
“If a court sought to take this step, due process would be required — including a fair trial and a legally defined punishment,” he said.
Instead, he argued, authorities are imposing “silent, invisible penalties” that evade official scrutiny.
