WDuring a government spokesman’s visit to a university in Tehran on Tuesday, dozens of students demonstrated on the campus. State-run Irna news agency reported that “around 90” students gathered in front of the law faculty of Allameh Tabatabai University in the capital while government spokesman Ali Bahadori- Jahromi delivered a speech at a conference.
The demonstrators chanted “inappropriate and immoral slogans,” Irna reported, without citing the wording. After the speech, the government spokesman “met the demonstrating students and discussed them with them,” it said. Irna did not name the reason for the demonstration.
Bahadori- Jahromi criticizes foreign media
For weeks, Iran has been rocked by mass protests sparked by the death of the young Kurd Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old died in Tehran on September 16 after being arrested by the vice squad. She allegedly wore her headscarf improperly.
A number of demonstrations have taken place in universities and schools in various cities across the country in recent weeks. The Iranian leadership accuses the West, and above all the USA, of fomenting the “unrest”.
According to the Irna news agency, Bahadori- Jahromi criticized Persian-language media based abroad for being used to “put pressure” on Tehran. “Some countries are willing to give their own money to set up a medium in Persian (…) to put pressure on us,” he said.
Earlier, Interior Minister Ahmad Wahidi accused Saudi Arabia, Iran’s regional rival, of backing some of these media outlets, Irna reported. On Monday, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, warned Riyadh against any “interference” in the affairs of the Islamic Republic. The IRGC’s official website, Sepah News, quoted his warning to the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: “You are interfering in our affairs through these media, you should know that you are vulnerable.”
