Iranian Authorities Ready to Crack Down on Students Day Protests

The authorities in Iran and the country's Revolutionary Guards have announced their intention to break up any protests that may take place on Monday when the nation marks Students Day.

Students Day is held in Iran on December 7 each year and remembers the 1953 deaths of three students at the hands of the Shah's security forces. As AFP reports just months before the students were killed at Tehran University the U.S. had backed a coup to remove Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq from power and replace him with Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, better known as the Shah of Iran. After 26 years as the Western-backed leader of Iran the Shah was himself removed from power by the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Restrictions have also been placed on the foreign media to prevent it from covering any protests that may take place, with Reuters confirming that on Saturday the Iranian Culture Ministry sent out an SMS text message to all those who would be affected by those restrictions which stated:

All permits issued for foreign media to cover news in Tehran have been revoked from December 7 to December 9

According to CNN the semi-official ILNA news agency has reported on a statement from the command of the Iranian security forces. The statement said:

We expect the respected faculty and students, particularly given the current sensitive situation, to prevent anyone from possibly taking advantage of these ceremonies and to extend any and all needed cooperation to the hardworking members of the security forces

The threat of protests on Monday is very real, with other recent anniversaries in Iran marked by people venting their frustration at the results of the June Presidential election, which saw the reelection of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Hundreds of demonstrators were arrested as they were protesting the election result, with many of those jailed allegedly tortured, raped and subjected to other forms of abuse. Death sentences have been passed down to some of those arrested. During the actual demonstrations as many as 70, possibly even more, deaths occurred. Back on September 18, which was Quds Day, an annual event held in Iran and other Muslim countries to show solidarity with the Palestinian people, opposition supporters made their voices heard during a march in Tehran. And on November 4, the anniversary of the day in 1979 when students took over the U.S. embassy in Iran, 100 people were arrested as they clashed with security forces in the Iranian capital Tehran. Shouts of "Death to the Dictator" were heard that day as thousands of supporters of opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi took to the streets. With a number of websites urging people to take part in new protests on Monday there has been no word from either Mr Mousavi or Mr Karroubi as to whether they will take part in any demonstrations close to the main campuses of Tehran University. Declaring that any such demonstrations would be illegal, the police have already announced that they will "confront any gathering or ceremony which is held outside the premises of universities". AFP is reporting that Internet links in Tehran were down on Sunday and those with knowledge of Iran's technical services have indicated that "a decision by the authorities" was responsible for the loss of the Internet links rather than it being a breakdown. Reuters is stating that the Internet links will remain disabled on Monday. In the holy city of Mashhad, which is in Northeastern Iran, close to the borders with Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, former President, and reformist cleric and politician, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has told a meeting of students that the Iranian leadership is displaying no tolerance for "differing views and constructive criticism". He then quoted from the Islamic holy book, the Quran. He said:

A secure society is a society that is pious and not subject to tyranny

When delivering a sermon at Friday prayers Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, head of the Guardians Council in Iran, told his audience, with reference to possible demonstrations on Monday, that people should "refrain from doing anything that pleases the United States".