The third week of nationwide protests in Iran turned particularly violent Sunday when security forces besieged Sharif University, a prominent university in the country, and closed the main gates of the facility where hundreds of students were protesting.
The violent confrontation led to arrests and injuries, according to eyewitnesses who shared their accounts on social media sites such as Vahid Online.
The unrest swept the country after the suspicious death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in the custody of the morality police, which arrests women for not wearing a hijab properly. Protests, however, soon went beyond the condemnation of the morality police and turned into a movement against the Islamic Republic, with slogans demanding the toppling of the regime.
Reports from inside Sharif University Sunday night described the atmosphere as “dreadful.” Many shared accounts of students being trapped inside the university and told to leave the premises through a parking garage. Once they got there, however, the students found themselves encircled by the guards who were waiting to arrest them, the Sharif University Islamic Association reported. Students were tear-gassed and shot by pellet guns, paintballs and rubber bullets, according to the association.
