date 5/7/67
According to reports from Iran, the students of Teheran University have been staging strikes and demonstrations for the past two months in protest against the high fees recently imposed by the government. Following the strike of the students in Teheran, the wave of protest has reached other universities in Iran. In Tabriz and Isfahan, students have organised strikes and demonstrations demanding the abolition of the high fees. In Tabriz, there have been clashes between police forces and the students in which students have been killed and many wounded. The pattern of these atrocities is familiar: in 1953 armed soldiers entered Teheran University and opened fire on students killing three. In 1962, a mass demonstration of students in Teheran University was savagely supporessed by units of the regular army. Hundreds of students, several members of staff, professors and teachers were beaten and injured. In his letter of resignation, the Chancellor of the University wrote "I have never seen or heard of so much cruelty, sadism, atrocity and vandalism on the part of government forces Some of the girls in the classrooms were criminally attached by the soldiers." In recent years, the Iranian regime has paid no attention to the problems of Iranian students and by imposing high fees and several other restrictions has added to the intense dissatisfaction and exasperation among the university community. The imposition of high tuition fees is a policy todebar poor students from institutes of higher learning. The regime recently spent lavishly on the so-called elimination of illiteracy but 80 percent of Iranians are still illiterate and by imposing high fees on.the students, it is hampering education and enlightenment in Iran. Iranian students are also deprived of all political rights. The regime never permits students to organise unions, and any dissenters against the regime's policy are sent to prison or else to the army. The recent strikes however, suggest that the Iranian government failed to weaken the strength of Iranian students in their fight for freedom. We oppose any interference in the affairs of students and the high fees imposed on them. We ask all students to protest to the Iranian government and — demonstrate solidarity with Iranian students-Iranian Students Soc. in Gt. Britain.