The most critical story of the protests on October 24 was the narrative of the Sadr Girls’ Conservatory in Tehran. According to claims from the Iranian regime in local news, the disputes started when the school principal insisted to check the girls’ phones and tried to conduct body searches of some of the girls when they rejected to hand over their phones.
Videos on social media showed heavily armed security forces outside the school who fired tear gas, leaving some of the students injured.
The important subject of the incident is the regime’s contradictory narratives about the events in this school. The regime’s ministry has narrated the incident in such a way that the blame for the conflict is being put on the students who brought mobile phones in with them.
Ali Tirgir, deputy of the regime’s information and public relations center of the Ministry of Education, said, “Today, due to the possession of mobile phones by some students and the insistence of the school principal for an inspection, a conflict between some students and parents with the school principal took place.”
He added, “According to the rules, mobile phones are prohibited in the school and students must follow the school’s instructions. In this incident, several students suffered a drop in blood pressure, and their condition was attended to by the presence of emergency forces.”
According to the regime’s police announcement, the capital police had a different story. They stated, “This afternoon, following the announcement of a case of conflict in the vicinity of a girls’ conservatory on Karoon Street, police officers arrived at the scene and put the matter on their agenda, during which it was found that the conflict was between a few thugs.”
They explained, “This conflict, which took place near a girls’ conservatory, raised the concerns of some parents and students. The perpetrators of the conflict were identified and arrested by the police officers.”
The questions remain as to whether there was a conflict inside the school or in the vicinity of the school, and whether was it between thugs or between students, their parents, and the principal?
Also, what actually happened that led to the conflict and the subsequent arrival of ambulances? Is it the first time that students have brought mobile phones to school? Was such brutal behavior necessary, and what is so dangerous about mobile phones in a school, except for the regime’s fear of the publication of children’s anti-regime protests?
Despite the regime’s claims that nothing serious happen, why then were some of the students sent urgently to the hospital? The regime’s educational officers seemingly claimed that this was due to several students suffering from low blood pressure.
A few days ago, the regime’s Minister of Education announced that no student had been arrested following the incident at the school and that students who have committed crimes in recent protests have been referred to counseling centers.
The regime’s MPs later visited Tehran’s Greater prison, and one of them reported that 200 students were imprisoned in this prison. The regime’s Minister of Education previously said that “We are not saying anything harsh to the schoolchildren.”
Over the past weeks, many schoolchildren have died at the hands of the regime’s security forces. According to a statement posted by the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations on October 14, 16-year-old Asra Panahi died after security forces raided the Shahed girls’ high school in Ardabil the day before and demanded a group of girls to sing a pro-regime song.
The pupils refused and security forces attacked them leading to several injuries. Some of them were taken to the hospital, where Panahi died due to the severity of her head injuries. As usual, the regime denied any relation between her death and its security forces.
Following the spread of the news, a man identified as her uncle appeared on TV and claimed that she died because of a congenital heart condition.
The next case was of a 17-year-old schoolgirl named Arnica Ghaem Maqami. She died following several hits to her head by the regime’s security forces. According to the hospital, her neck was broken. The regime later claimed that she had jumped from the fourth floor and committed suicide. Security agencies took her to the military hospital to prevent rebellions.
