Coverage Of Protests In Iran On October 3

As Iran’s ruler Ali Khamenei was delivering a speech Monday dismissing nationwide protests, students in a dozen universities began rallying against his regime.

The Sunday attack by security forces and vigilantes on students at Sharif University in Tehran arresting dozens of young people angered students in other universities.

Protests were taking place on Monday in Mashhad University, the second largest city, in Esfahan, the third largest city and many other universities. Security forces attempted another assault against students in Tabriz university, similar to what they had done in Tehran the previous day.

The protest mood spread to schools where teenage girls started writing anti-regime slogans on blackboards and taking off their headscarves once they left the school grounds, protesting openly in the streets. Theis phenomenon is perhaps one of the biggest challenges for the regime as attacking children will enrage the whole population.

Khamenei in his speech dismissed all that, claiming that all the protests in more than two weeks were planned by the United States and Israel, a theory most Iranians who witness prevailing conditions find laughable.

No reports about street protests were received Monday night, which would not necessarily mean there were no demonstrations. The government has almost cut off all Internet acess in evening hours, making it very difficult for people to connect to social media.