Over the years, I have had several students from Iran in my online classes at Coursera. Lately, I’ve been reading about student political action at Sharif University in Tehran with a mixture of admiration and horror. Admiration, since the students there have shown such courage in their protests since the funeral of Mahsa Amini a few weeks ago. Horror because of the brutality of the regime’s response to these protests. Human rights groups put the death toll at well over 100, as students and their allies refuse to back down in the face of violent tyranny.
Mahsa Amini had been arrested for “unsuitable attire,” and she then died in police custody after falling into a coma. This is official brutality at its worst, and young women and men across Iran have protested against a regime that denies people their basic freedoms. Universities depend on these freedoms to do their work, and the violence with which they are currently being attacked is deplorable.
Raising our voices of solidarity with Iranian students fighting tyranny may not save them from the tear gas, batons and bullets of the Revolutionary Guard. But if it gives even one protestor a little more energy, we ought to join the chorus of those calling for an end to the oppressive violence in Iran.