‘Courageous’ young Iranians tell of their horrors while protesting against brutal regime

Iranian students stage a protest on Student Day

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Three young citizens have given detailed accounts of the brutal atrocities committed by the Iranian regime’s security forces against them and their peers. Despite being “shot at with bullets”, “beaten with batons” and “deprived of education” as a result of the rebellion, the brave students told Express.co.uk of the pride and “honour” they held in “fighting for freedom”, declaring that the “Iranian people’s democratic revolution will win soon”. Meanwhile, in a message to Iranian protesters, two young people imprisoned for 16 years issued a call to fellow students to “stand until the end”. Roughly 700 people have been killed since the protests began in September following the death of  22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by the morality police for improperly wearing her hijab. 

Aida, a 23-year-old medical student, spoke of being “attacked several times and shot at with bullets” by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps while protesting. She also said “several of my friends” had been arrested while many others had been “deprived of education”. 

Despite the threat to her safety and her life, she proudly declared herself as “one of the Resistance Units” of the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (MEK), a rebel group aiming to overthrow the regime. 

She said: “I don’t know about my tomorrow, maybe I will be the next person to be killed by [Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei’s agents, but I am one of the Resistance Units of MEK.” 

She said it was “an honour” to be “fighting for freedom”, adding: “I want to say that be sure that soon the Islamic Republic will sink and people will watch this sinking.”

19-year-old law student Freshteh spoke of her friends "beaten with batons" (Image: TWITTER )

Mohammad, a PhD fellow based in Tehran, said roughly 700 students had been involved in protests against the regime since September, while a “much larger” number of them had been banned from entering the establishment. 

He explained how he had witnessed fights breaking out between students and security forces, both uniformed and plain-clothed, and reported one incident where “they hit a girl badly and tore apart a boy’s shirt”. Both students were saved by fellow protesters from further beatings on the day, only to be arrested after the incident, he said. 

Talking about the significance of Student Day, Mohammad added: “This year is really different because the students now have the courage, they have seen, in these last 80 days, what they can actually do. Now, they have the courage to rise and speak of their rights.”

READ MORE: Horror as 1,200 university students 'poisoned' on eve of mass protest [REVEAL] 

Students flee IRGC forces during a national protest day (Image: TWITTER )

A 19-year-old law student from Tehran called Freshteh said the “days were full of pain and sadness” as the regime forces “beat my people with batons and shot them with shotguns”. 

But she also spoke of the resilience of the Iranian civilians, saying that “people open the doors of their houses and let the protesters take shelter and be saved from the killers”, as well as providing them with food.

She said: “We are all united and this is one of our main successes in the uprising. Victory is very, very close. The Iranian people’s democratic revolution will win soon.”

All three students called for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the security forces responsible for the crackdown on protesters, to be internationally-recognised as a terrorist organistaion. 

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Meanwhile, two students, imprisoned for 16 years in Iran’s infamous Evin Prison on charges of sympathising with the Iranian opposition and acting against “national security”, issued a call to the students to “stand until the end”. 

Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi, both medallists in International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiads, were arrested while at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran in April 2020. 

In the powerful message, which was shared with Express.co.uk and sent to the Iranian protesters from behind prison walls, the pair said: “We bow to students who are no longer merely shouting but rebelling, students who have been arrested, banned, suspended, and threatened.

“In these days, we have been and are with you and with our dear friends in universities all over Iran. “With every news that we hear, we see ourselves by your side. With every news of your arrest, we revisit the first days of our arrest and learn from your courage and bravery. With your resilience and indefatigability, we follow the news every day with hope. 

READ NEXT: Day of the ayatollahs is over, quietly or with violence they will go
Iranian doctor describes being ‘attacked and beaten’ by regime forces 
Iranians ride through Tehran with Union Jack after regime humiliation 
Iran’s security forces swoop in on cities at the centre of protests
Prominent actors arrested as Iran cracks down on protesters


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