Iran's Beheshti University has declared that students with disciplinary records won't be eligible for a program that facilitates access to higher education levels, a move seen as an attempt to silence student protesters from the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement.
The prominent state-run school on January 15 announced the move involving the "exceptional talents quota" policy and said it reserves the right to take action against students at any educational stage if they are confirmed to have disciplinary convictions on their records.
The policy, as outlined by Beheshti University, applies to any disciplinary action taken by entities ranging from the university's disciplinary council to the Science Ministry, it added.
The United Students group sharply criticized the decision on the social network X, formerly Twitter, noting such a regulation isn't part of the existing Exceptional Talents Quota guidelines.
The student group said that when the current academic year arrived some students saw the unexpected cancellation of their postgraduate enrollment, some after they had completed registration and received student identification numbers.
The group also said admission to postgraduate studies for some students is now contingent on receiving approval from university security.
The imposition of the policy comes against a backdrop of widespread protests and public opposition to the compulsory wearing of the hijab throughout Iranian universities, sparked by the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests. In response to the protests, the Islamic republic has intensified its efforts to control the student population, especially at universities, which have long been at the forefront of the struggle for greater social and political freedoms in Iran.
In 1999, students protested the closure of a reformist daily, prompting a brutal raid on the dorms of Tehran University that left one student dead. Amini's death while being detained for an alleged headscarf violation in September 2022 has once again made campuses a hotbed of dissent.
Over the years, the authorities have arrested student activists and leaders, sentencing them to prison and banning them from studying.
The activist HRANA news agency says at least 700 university students have been arrested during the recent unrest.
Many have faced sentences such as imprisonment and flogging, and dozens of students have been expelled from universities or suspended from their studies as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.