Iranian MP Warns Of Iran's Regression Amid Internet Crackdowns

Mohammad Ali Zolfigol, the Minister of Science, issued a decree removing Rasoul Jalili from his position and introduced Abbas Mousavi as the new acting head of the university.

The graduation ceremony for 81 students from the international campus of Sharif University of Technology took place on Kish Island last Thursday. According to videos shared on social media, many female graduates were seen without mandatory hijab, wearing graduation uniforms.

Following that, the chancellor of Kish campus was dismissed. On Saturday, the AmirKabir Telegram channel reported that, following threats from the ministries of science and intelligence, Ali Selk Ghaffari, the chancellor of Kish campus, had been "forced to resign."

The dismissal will come as a shock for many, knowing Jalili as a key figure in the Khamenei inner circle. In 2012, Jalili was appointed as a member of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace by the decree of Supreme Leader and was previously named as one of the organizers of "digital suppression," leading to his inclusion in the US sanctions list.

Since the protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police detention, many students, especially female ones, have openly and practically opposed mandatory hijab. As dissent deepens, universities have stepped up security and surveillance, in line with that seen across public spaces in Iran.

Zahedi, 20, lost his life on September 21, 2022, during the nationwide uprising when forces of the Islamic Republic opened fire in Sari, located in the north of Iran.

His mother Mahsa Yazdani had previously been sentenced to 13 years in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Sari. The charges against her included "insulting sanctities, inciting people to disrupt national security, insulting the leadership, and engaging in propaganda against the system."

The appeals court in Mazandaran Province affirmed the verdict on Monday, indicating that the most severe part of the punishment, a five-year imprisonment term, will be enforced.

Yazdani was arrested by security forces in Sari on August 22 and was released from prison on October 6 after posting bail.

During the uprising, well over 500 protesters lost their lives as security forces brutally suppressed the masses, and thousands were rounded up and imprisoned.

Amnesty International recently disclosed a document revealing that the commander overseeing suppression in Mazandaran province had issued orders for "ruthless and deadly force" against protesters in all major and minor cities of the province.

The families of those who lost their lives in the uprising have faced numerous pressures since the beginning of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran from travel bans to jail terms.

The revelation stems from a survey conducted by MP Jalal Rashidi Kouchi who calculated that if the minimum monthly price of a VPN in Iran is $2, citizens would be compelled to spend around $480 million annually on these tools to circumvent regime bans on the likes of Instagram and Whatsapp.

He also estimated that the shutdowns on popular apps used for social networking and e-commerce cost the public an additional $400 million.

In September, Yekta Net Advertising Company published a report estimating the market volume of circumvention tools in 2022 to be between $500 million to $600 million. According to the report, 80% of Iranians use VPNs to access social networks, while the Islamic Republic currently restricts access to major international social networks and messaging platforms.

Estimations of VPN sales in Iran in recent years have been approximations due to a lack of transparent data. The estimates typically focus on the direct costs citizens pay to bypass censorship, overlooking government expenses in equipping and maintaining the online censorship system.

Despite the controversies, officials from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, including Minister Isa Zarepour, have consistently rejected published statistics on the matter, avoiding responsibility.

According to Freedom House, Iran was the Middle East's worst country for internet freedom in 2023, its rating worsening in the wake of the Women, Life, Freedom uprising. 

Several students in the psychology faculty were first targeted before the security team reached humanities and literature students. ID cards were recorded as the regime does all it can to threaten and intimidate those not complying with compulsory hijab laws.

Other measures have been imposed on students including forcing them to agree to wearing the hijab in order to choose courses, with some students even exiled to other cities.

It comes amidst heightened crackdowns across the country where students have been a pivotal part of the Women, Life, Freedom movement challenging the Islamic Republic. Over 140 universities across Iran witnessed protests following the death in morality police custody of Mahsa Amini. Since that time, hundreds of students have been arrested and banned from studies as a consequence of support for anti-regime protests. 

In April, Iran’s Student Union Council claimed that more than 430 students had been suspended or expelled following the recent protests across the country.At the time, US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said 637 students from 144 universities had been arrested since mid-September. Other sources have put the number at well over 700.

The regime continues to make universities a focal point. On Monday, Mohammad Moghimi, president of the University of Tehran, admitted an increased presence of hijab enforcers on the capital's campus. He mentioned that women, educated in seminaries, have formed monitoring groups dedicated to overseeing students' compliance with hijab regulations.

Student councils further disclosed that over the past week, more than 50 students were summoned to disciplinary committees by the hijab enforcement teams. The penalties ranged from verbal reprimands to suspension from their studies.

He said women, "with seminary education," organized into "monitoring groups for students' hijab" are now on the university campus.

Moghimi disclosed the development during a session of the Council for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice at the university.

He explained that the groups, comprised of women focused on “improving compliance with behavioral codes, are tasked with monitoring and enhancing the adherence to dress codes in alignment with religious rules, university regulations, and standards across all campuses of the University of Tehran.”

Critics argue that the presence of such groups raises questions about individual freedoms and privacy on university campuses, which have been hotbeds for anti-regime sentiment since last year's Women, Life, Freedom movement saw uprisings swell across the country.

The issues first came to light earlier this month when student councils in the country reported the presence of "hijab enforcement" forces in the University of Tehran's campuses, detailing instances of harassment and intimidation by the forces, who patrol the university campus under the pretext of enforcing dress codes.

Student councils also revealed that within a week, more than 50 students were summoned to disciplinary committees by the hijab enforcement forces. The majority of the students faced a range of penalties, from verbal reprimands to suspension from their studies as has been since since the uprising began last year and hijab crackdowns toughen.