A student at Iran's most prestigious technical university has been expelled and banned from all universities for four years over a stuffed rat hung from a campus tree, a toy that carried the nickname protesters gave the late supreme leader.
Sharif University's student affairs office said the ruling against Reza Dalman, a 24-year-old master's student in computer engineering, was final. "The final ruling was communicated to the university for implementation on August 16," the office said.
Dalman was arrested on March 19 and released on bail about a month later. Student sources link his case to a stuffed rat that demonstrators hung from a tree during protests at Sharif in late February, before a Basij-affiliated student climbed up and took it down.
The toy was an insult with a name. Critics began calling Ali Khamenei "Moush-Ali," or Rat-Ali, after the late supreme leader largely vanished from public view during the 12-day war with Israel in June 2025, when reports said he had taken shelter in a fortified underground facility.
Moush means mouse, or rat. The nickname spread from social media into chants at protests inside Iran and among the diaspora, a way of mocking a leader his opponents said had run for cover.
Dalman published an image of the final decision, stamped "confidential," on his X account. Among the points the university listed against him was that during his defense he showed "no expression of remorse."
The expulsion sits alongside a judicial case against Dalman and a widening series of disciplinary rulings at one of Iran's most prominent universities.
Expulsion orders reach 10
Three more Sharif students have received preliminary expulsion orders, bringing to 10 the number facing such rulings, the United Students group said on Wednesday.
The latest are Ariana Kouchaki, an industrial engineering undergraduate, Ali Alirezaei, a mathematics undergraduate, and Arash Hatami, a physics undergraduate. Kouchaki and Hatami were each barred from studying at any university in Iran for one year, while Alirezaei received a five-year nationwide ban, according to the group.
Seven other Sharif students had already received expulsion orders. Dalman's is the only case finalized by the Ministry of Science; the rest remain preliminary.
Iran's judiciary described Hosseini as a foreign national but did not say which country he was from. A source familiar with the case told Iran International earlier his month that Hosseini was a cousin of Golmohammad Mohammadi, an Afghan national who was previously executed in the same case, indicating Hosseini may also have been Afghan.
The judiciary's media center said Hosseini was executed on Thursday morning after his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court. It said he had been convicted of charges including moharebeh, or "waging war against God," and corruption on earth, as well as destruction of property and collusion to act against national security.
Fifth execution in Ali-Khani Square case
Twelve people were sentenced to death in the Ali-Khani Square case, which stems from protests in Isfahan on January 8.
Iranian authorities executed Golmohammad Mohammadi and Erfan Esfandiari on July 19, followed by Amirhossein Safari and Abolfazl Sepahi on July 28. Hosseini's execution on Thursday brings the number of defendants put to death in the case to five.
Safari and Sepahi were hanged after an execution scaffold was erected at Ali-Khani Square, the site of the January protests. People gathered near the square overnight amid a heavy deployment of security forces and fears of imminent executions.
Iranian authorities have accused the defendants of involvement in the deaths of four security personnel, as well as arson and vandalism during the protests.
Judiciary says Hosseini took part in violence
Iranian authorities said Hosseini was involved in unrest at Isfahan's Ali-Khani Square on January 8, where four members of the security forces were killed.
The judiciary said Hosseini admitted being present during the unrest and carrying a bladed weapon. It said he wore a jacket, hat and mask and switched off his mobile phone to avoid being identified or tracked.
The judiciary also accused Hosseini of taking part in the burning of the Amir al-Momenin mosque in Isfahan's Malekshahr district on the same night.
The authorities said Hosseini was convicted of drawing a weapon and "creating fear and terror," causing widespread insecurity, acting against national security, destroying public property and colluding to act against national security.
The judiciary said the Supreme Court reviewed Hosseini's appeal and upheld the death sentence before it was carried out on Thursday.
UN experts questioned fairness of trials
Before the July 28 executions, UN human rights experts urged Iranian authorities to halt the executions of the remaining defendants in the Ali-Khani Square case.
"Sentencing 12 people to death in one hearing, in a closed courtroom and without clarity as to each defendant's individual responsibility violates established fair trial standards," the experts said.
The experts, led by Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, said the defendants, ranging from their late teens to their early twenties, had reportedly faced arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and, in some cases, ill-treatment.
They also raised concerns that convictions relied heavily on confessions broadcast on Iranian state television, while Revolutionary Court hearings were held behind closed doors and the judgments were not made public.
Other rights groups have also raised concerns over access to independent lawyers and court files in the case.
Executions rise after January protests
Hosseini's execution comes amid a broader rise in the use of the death penalty for national security-related offenses following Iran's January protests.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on August 5 that Iran had executed at least 56 people on national security-related charges since March 19, including 27 in cases linked to protests earlier this year.
Türk said more than 100 other people faced similar charges and the possibility of the death penalty. He urged Iranian authorities to halt executions and move toward abolishing capital punishment.
Iranian lawmakers on Sunday, August 16, approved the general principles of the "Plan to Counter the Infiltration of Intelligence Services and Foreign Governments or Institutions" by 183 votes in favor, four against and five abstentions.
The vote means parliament approved the proposal in principle but has not yet approved its individual articles or penalties. The publicly available version contains 19 articles, though lawmakers have said the details have not been finalized.
Majid Ansari, President Masoud Pezeshkian's vice president for legal affairs, said on Wednesday that the cabinet had reviewed the proposal in October last year, and sent its formal opposition to parliament because of what he described as fundamental problems in its provisions.
"The government's official position is opposition to this proposal," Ansari told the state-run IRNA news agency.
Government cites rights concerns
Ansari said the proposal conflicted with several constitutional principles covering citizens' rights, fundamental rights and individual freedoms, and in some cases was also inconsistent with Sharia law.
He said the measure would sharply restrict academic contacts between Iranian universities, researchers and specialists and institutions abroad.
"To achieve the country's important scientific goals, we must work to facilitate communication and the exchange of scientific information, but the provisions of this proposal will create serious restrictions on the country's scientific growth and development," he said.
Ansari said researchers, doctors and academics need ties with international institutions to prevent their work from becoming stagnant and warned that broad restrictions on contacts could push more specialists to leave Iran.
"If every type of contact and communication faces restrictions and is criminalized by law, naturally they will prefer to migrate and carry out their scientific and research activities in a free environment," Ansari said.
Government says existing laws are enough
The Pezeshkian government said Iran already has laws and security agencies with powers to deal with foreign intelligence activity and does not need new legislation in its current form.
Ansari said any new legislation should instead be prepared with the participation of the government and judiciary and submitted as a government bill after legal, judicial, social and political review.
He called on parliament to remove the proposal from its agenda or subject it to a more detailed two-stage review, saying its broad criminal provisions required input from the judiciary.
Draft restricts foreign contacts
The publicly available draft extends beyond acts normally associated with espionage and covers a wide range of contacts between Iranians and foreign individuals and institutions.
One provision would require individuals, private companies and state bodies to notify authorities and receive written permission from the Foreign Ministry, or an Iranian embassy or consulate abroad, before contacts with foreign embassies, offices or non-Iranian organizations inside or outside Iran.
The draft provides limited exemptions for matters including civil registration and personal-status issues. Violations could result in fines and restrictions on social rights.
Another article would ban providing information, reports or statistics to foreign intelligence services, non-Iranian groups or institutions, or foreign nationals without permission from the Intelligence Ministry. It provides for prison terms and, in some cases, a permanent ban from the job through which the information was obtained or supplied.
The draft would also make sending photographs, video, audio or other data to non-Iranian media or people engaged in media work outside Iran punishable by prison.
Interviews or other communication with some US- or Israeli-funded media would also be punishable by prison, while interviews with other foreign media would have to be reported to an Intelligence Ministry system.
Foreign visitors and academic ties
The proposal also contains restrictions affecting foreign nationals in Iran.
Foreigners who enter or remain in Iran without completing required legal procedures could be deported and fined the equivalent of 10,000 euros.
Foreign nationals who entered legally but carried out cultural activities deemed contrary to national security or the state's general policies could face the same penalties. Other offenses committed by foreign nationals in Iran could carry penalties one degree more severe than otherwise prescribed.
The Intelligence Ministry would also be required to publish each year a list of foreign governments, universities and institutions approved for scholarships, grants, academic agreements, conferences and other scientific cooperation.
Scientific cooperation with universities or institutions not on that list, as well as sending medical, research or archaeological samples to them, could result in a prison sentence.
Supporters say measure is needed after wars
Mohammad Saleh Jokar, a lawmaker from Yazd and head of parliament's Internal Affairs and Councils Committee, defended the need for stronger measures against infiltration but said the details of the proposal had not yet been finalized.
Jokar said Iran had suffered major damage from infiltration before and during what he called the 12-day war with Israel and the US last year and the 40-day war with the US this year, adding that foreign adversaries had used different channels to collect information.
He said the assassinations of a number of Iranian commanders and officials were linked to infiltration and said hostile networks inside Iran had used messages, money, weapons and other resources to pursue their objectives.
Jokar said parliament needed to identify and close routes used for infiltration, whether they involved a physical or virtual presence inside the country.
But he also said the proposal's individual provisions required detailed consideration by lawmakers and rejected suggestions that the currently circulating text had been finalized.
Legal scholar warns of vague offenses
Mohsen Borhani, a prominent legal scholar and faculty member at the University of Tehran's law school, also sharply criticized the proposal.
Borhani said its wording was vague and could put the freedom of citizens, academics, political and social activists and artists at risk.
He pointed to language in the draft covering acts such as "showing a dark image of the country," promoting what authorities consider "anti-Islamic culture," taking part in courses deemed incompatible with Iranian culture and making policy proposals considered contrary to the state's fundamental interests.
The draft provides penalties for some cultural activity carried out under foreign direction, including permanent restrictions on some artistic work, and provides prison sentences for some educational courses and workshops involving specified foreign institutions.
Article 1 also provides lengthy prison terms for some policy or legislative proposals made under foreign direction if authorities determine they damaged national security, fundamental state interests, public trust or electoral participation.
Borhani said such broad wording could allow selective enforcement and urged the government, the Science Ministry, the Culture Ministry and other institutions to oppose the measure.
Criticism spreads on social media
Some Iranian social media users also reacted with alarm after parliament's Sunday vote, focusing on the proposal's restrictions on education, media contacts and links with the outside world.
"The biggest point in the proposal is that it lays the groundwork for closing off scholarships for Iranian students," one user on X wrote.
Another user described the measure as "cutting ties with the world on the path to turning Iran into North Korea," saying the proposal could bring media, scientific and civil contacts with foreign institutions under tighter security control.
"Welcome to the world's largest prison," another user wrote, pointing to proposed prison terms for interviews with some US media and restrictions on contact with foreign embassies without government permission.
The posts reflected concern among some social media users that the proposal could sharply restrict academic, media and civil contacts with organizations outside Iran. They do not represent a scientific measure of Iranian public opinion.
The draft remains subject to change. Parliament's vote on Sunday approved only its general principles, and lawmakers have not yet approved the individual articles or penalties contained in the publicly available text.
For many, life now divides in two: before January, and after. The same images return again and again in their accounts: the sound of gunfire, the people killed beside them, the friends and children who went out to protest and never came home.
“Time stopped for me after January 9,” one respondent wrote. “My life was divided into before and after the protests, and I never became the person I was before,” another said.
The responses vary widely. Some describe depression, recurring nightmares, anger and an inability to return to ordinary routines. Others say the experience made them more politically engaged and more determined to join future protests.
Together, they offer a picture of an upheaval whose consequences for some participants and witnesses have extended from the streets into private life.
‘All those scenes keep playing like a film’
Descriptions of psychological distress were among the most frequent responses.
One person who said they witnessed young people being killed described recurring nightmares, depression, crying at night and a sense that there was no future.
“I can no longer walk with a good feeling on streets where blood was spilled or do the everyday things I used to do,” the respondent wrote.
Another described being unable to escape the memories.
“I could never return to normal life. All those scenes keep playing in front of my eyes like a film – those streets and the faces of people who were dying.”
For some, particular dates have themselves become reminders. One said seeing the numbers 8 and 9, corresponding to the dates of the protests, now causes their heart rate to rise.
Others described guilt over having survived.
“Every day, I have to answer to my conscience for breathing,” one person wrote.
The effects described went beyond grief. Some said their relationship with ordinary pleasures, familiar streets and even other people had changed.
“I don't make fun of young people anymore,” one wrote. “I realized that anyone, regardless of their job, style or appearance, can be a Kaveh the Blacksmith against Zahhak.”
The reference draws on two figures from Persian mythology: Kaveh, a blacksmith who leads a revolt, and Zahhak, a tyrannical ruler.
Anger, but also determination
Anger repeatedly accompanied grief in the responses, with some saying executions, rising prices and what they see as continuing injustice had deepened rather than diminished it.
“At first I was very happy, then angry and hopeless, and then hopeful,” one wrote. “Now I am waiting and angry, with flames of suppressed anger; sometimes hopeless and sometimes hopeful. But we know we have to go to the end.”
Another wrote: “Those two nights ended, but a piece of me broke away and remained alone somewhere.”
Yet despair was not the only consequence described. Some said January had made them more willing to take risks and participate again.
“I became braver and more determined to achieve freedom,” one person wrote.
“Other than some of my hair turning grey, the biggest change is that I have prepared myself to repay my debt with the next call,” another said, referring to a future call for protests.
For these respondents, the memories of January have become a reason to continue rather than withdraw.
Politics enters personal relationships
Some responses described a shift in political understanding, including greater attention to the Islamic Republic's institutions, propaganda and political currents.
“January made me understand the propaganda system of this regime and its operatives,” one person wrote. “My political knowledge increased greatly. I learned about left and right. I understood how I was being played and why this regime has lasted 47 years.”
Political divisions have also entered friendships and family relationships.
One described the biggest change simply as: “Cutting ties with fence-sitting relatives and friends!”
For some, the reaction of people around them to protesters being killed, the crackdown and arguments about Iran's political future became a new measure for deciding which relationships to maintain.
Others described the opposite effect: a stronger sense of connection with fellow Iranians.
“In one sentence, I am proud of my Iranian compatriots because on January 8 and 9 we stood together,” one wrote.
Another cited the “courage, strength and self-sacrifice of a nation” as one of the enduring impressions of the protests.
‘We are alone’
Several said January also changed their expectations of foreign powers and whether outside intervention could alter Iran's future.
“We are alone and should not hope for any power to save us or bring us freedom, except through our own efforts,” one person wrote.
For others, grief, anger and political determination now coexist rather than replacing one another.
“The January protests changed something in me forever,” one respondent wrote. “Since that day, I have become angrier, more wounded and more depressed, but I have not been broken.”
For those who sent responses to Iran International, January remains more than a date marking a political confrontation. It has become a dividing line in their own lives – separating who they were before the protests from who they became afterward.
