1999 Iranian student protests
In addition to an estimated 1,200–1,400 detainees, the "whereabouts and condition" of five students named by Human Rights Watch who are believed to be detained by Iranian authorities remain unknown.
[4] The protests began on the eve of 9 July 1999 after a peaceful demonstration by a group of students of Tehran University against the closure of the reformist newspaper, Salam, by the press court.
The Salam newspaper (Persian: روزنامه سلام) was operated by the Association of Combatant Clerics, the reformist political party to which the then president, Mohammad Khatami belonged.
On the evening of the protests, "about 400 plainclothes paramilitaries descended on a university dormitory, whispering into short-wave radios and wielding green sticks."
"[6] The next day, unrest began in earnest, spreading through Tehran and to other cities and continuing for almost a week, with unemployed youths joining the students.
[7] The five days of rioting "turned Tehran into a battlefield," and was "inarguably the worst mass disturbance" the Islamic Republic had seen in its 20 years of existence.
The death of Ebrahim-Nejad was the only one acknowledged by the state-controlled Iranian television, however, major student groups and the foreign media have claimed more than 17 dead during the week of violent protests.
[9] According to The Economist magazine, the demonstrations "took a more violent turn on 13 July, when some of the students, deeply dissatisfied with the official response, tried to storm the Ministry of the Interior, the perceived seat of their troubles.
"[12] The Iranian student protests of July 1999 is considered to be the first massive uprising initiated by the generation born under the Islamic Republic Regime.
Over the next five days proceeding the attack, approximately 50,000 students protested in Tehran, in addition to thousands more in various universities across Iran, against both conservatives and reformists under the Islamic Republic Regime and The Supreme Leader Khamenei, in particular.
Student protester's main demand called for the replacement of the Islamic Republic with a government that upheld the ideals of secular democracy.
During this time period, Iran experienced an apparent struggle of power between reformist president Muhammad Khatami and the conservative leader of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Some scholars recognize the regime's "overreaction to both its own reform counterparts and the opposition forces reveal[s], how weak and insecure the ruling conservatives are".
In the Journal of Iranian Research and Analysis, Cyrus Bina indicates that fear is demonstrated when: two dozen high-ranking Pasdar commanders present President Khatarni an official letter of ultimatum, telling him that they have no choice except to seize power if he fails to crush the student rebellion soon … commanders, who are under direct authority of Khamenei, threatened the President that their patience is running thin and that they can no longer stand on the sideline.The fact that the clerics and judicial sector felt the urgency to immediately stop the student protests is an indication of the fear they had and the amount of influence the protestors could have on Iranian society if their voices were not silenced.
After the attack on the students of Tehran University by a hard-line vigilante group, Khatami delivered a speech three months later defending his reform program and insisting on the foundations of his government.
After researching the popular slogans used during the protest, it is evident that the student had multitude of demands as a result of the six-day demonstrations in Tehran.
These straight forward criticisms toward Khamenei, combined with slogans against the cleric rule and the "20-year" repression under the Islamic order, reflect the failed velayat-e faghih as a model of government in Iran.
This resentment deriving from violent intervention, disruption of political meetings, peaceful demonstrations and university lectures in support of the cleric and the supreme leader.
According to Cyrus Bina, these type of "pressure groups are kept on the government's payroll and that their violence is often coordinated with the uniformed law enforcement forces against the public".
As of 31 July 2006, several students involved in the demonstration such as Manouchehr Mohammadi, Ahmad Batebi, Farokh Shafiei, Hassan Zarezadeh Ardeshir, were still in jail.
Of those students, Akbar Mohammadi died during a hunger strike while protesting against his prison sentence;[17] Human Rights Watch called his death "suspicious" and demanded an investigation.
[18] Heshmat Tabarzadi, viewed by the Iranian government as one of the leaders of the protests, was arrested and spent nine years in Evin Prison, including two in solitary confinement.
[19] According to the Middle East Eye, a lecturer in the U.K argued that the impact of the 1999 student protests became apparent 10 years later during the 2009 Green Movement.
[25] Early on during the protest, Amnesty International reported: "At least 200 demonstrators are reported to have gathered along Enghlab Avenue, around the gates of Tehran University, only to be confronted by a large presence of anti-riot police and plain-clothed security officials, possibly including members of the notorious Basij militia, who used baton charges and tear gas to disperse them.
