Ministry 'Working' To Release Students
Iran's Science Minister Mansour Gholami said that about a quarter of the students arrested during the antigovernment protests have since been released, though he failed to give any exact numbers.
The ministry is "working to obtain the release of all students," Gholami told the online news portal Etemaadonline.
Student Arrests
Tehran University Vice-President Majid Sarsangi told ISNA news agency that the university had set up a committee to track the fate of students arrested during the antigovernment protests.
"Our efforts at the university are aimed at cooperating with the relevant authorities to create the conditions for the return of the detained students to the university and their families in the shortest possible time," Sarsangi said on January 6.
Detainees 'Freed'
Alireza Rashidian, the governor of Khorasan Province, in northeast Iran, says 85 percent of protesters detained there have been freed after signing a pledge not to re-offend, via the ISNA news agency.
The provincial capital, Mashhad, was where the first protests erupted on December 28. Since then there have been several antigovernment protests there.
"Those with a criminal record, or those charged with sabotage such a setting fire to motorcycles or damaging public buildings have been referred to judicial authorities," said Rashidian.
Based on figures announced by various officials, more than 1,700 people have been arrested since the start of unrest. The real number might be much higher, since provincial officials often do not provide exact figures.
Instagram Unblocked
Iranians say they can access Instagram again after it was blocked for the past week. The government has suspended access to the messaging app Telegram. Twitter and Facebook were already banned.
Pro-government Rallies
Iran's state broadcaster has showed pro-government rallies in several cities, including in Amol, in the northern province of Mazandaram, with hundreds of people waving the Iranian flag and chanting slogans against the U.S. and Israel.
Other pro-government demonstrations were held in Shahin Dezh, in West Azarbaijan Province; the city of Semnan, in the northern Semnan Province; and Shadegan, in the southern Khuzestan Province.
Students Arrested
At least 90 students are among hundreds of people arrested across Iran since the unrest began over a week ago, according to reformist parliamentarian Mahmud Sadeghi, via ILNA news agency.
Most of the students have been arrested in Tehran (58), Shiraz (8), Hamadan (4) and Kermanshah (4), according to Sadeghi.
Protests In Tehran
Footage has emerged purportedly showing protests in the capital, Tehran, late January 5.
There has been a large police presence in Tehran to prevent gatherings from turning into larger protests.
Protest In Birthplace Of Khomeini
Khomein, the birthplace of Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, was not spared the anger of antigovernment protesters. A video purports to show a large crowd coming out for the first time in the city on January 5 shouting, “God bless your soul Reza Shah,” a reference to the former shah of Iran who ruled until 1941.
Reza Shah was the founding king of the Pahlavi dynasty, who put Iran on the path to modernization. The monarchy was toppled in the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Antigovernment demonstrators have been chanting pro-monarchy slogans across Iran since the current protests erupted on December 28.
Protest In Khuzestan
Elsewhere, a large crowd in the city of Masjed Soleiman, in southwest province of Khuzestan, came out to mourn the death of two protesters killed in recent days.
This video purports to show protesters shouting antigovernment slogans.
Khuzestan Province has a predominately Arab population and is the center of oil production in Iran. Protests have been especially intense in Ahvaz, the largest city in Khuzestan.
Neda Agha Soltan
Antigovernment protesters in Tabriz purportedly chanted the name of Soltan, the 26-year-old philosophy student and protester who was gunned down during the bloody government crackdown on demonstrators during the 2009 mass rallies.