In response to the killing of Amir Mohammad Khaleqi, a 19-year-old University of Tehran student, by Iranian regime security agents, students from two universities issued separate statements on Tuesday, February 18, criticizing the “lack of security” in society and the “incompetence and inefficiency” of the government.
According to the Telegram channel Daneshjuyan-e Motahed (United Students), the student council of Beheshti University and a group of students from Allameh Tabataba’i University in Tehran emphasized the need to break the silence against “this injustice and oppression” and demanded an “immediate, thorough, and decisive” response from authorities to this “heartbreaking crime.”
The student council of Beheshti University, in its statement, strongly condemned the murder of Amir Mohammad Khaleqi following a “brutal attack by armed thieves” and described it as “a clear indication of the deteriorating security situation around university campuses and the increasing threats to students’ lives.”
At the same time, a group of students from Allameh Tabataba’i University held a gathering in memory of Amir Mohammad Khaleqi, attributing his murder to the consequences of “the dominance of a weak and ineffective political structure” and the result of the authorities’ neglect of the “lack of security” for students.
In their statement, they did not limit the blame for Amir Mohammad Khaleqi’s murder to street criminals, emphasizing: “His killer is a system that has sacrificed security to its own incompetence
The protesters at Allameh Tabataba’i University added: “Law enforcement agencies, which are supposedly responsible for maintaining security, have long deviated from their primary function and have become tools for repressing society.”
They emphasized: “We will not remain silent in the face of this injustice and oppression, nor will we allow this crime to be buried in silence. Our demand is an end to this vicious cycle and broken system. We refuse to continue paying the price for your incompetence.”
Amir Mohammad Khaleqi, a 19-year-old undergraduate business management student at the University of Tehran, lost his life on the evening of Wednesday, February 12, after being stabbed by “muggers” near the university.
On Tuesday, February 19, Tehran’s police claimed that five individuals had been arrested in connection with Amir Mohammad Khaleqi’s “murder.”
Mohammad Shariari, the head of Tehran’s criminal prosecutor’s office, cited the “confessions” of the suspects and stated that their motive was “robbery.”
The killing of Amir Mohammad Khaleqi has sparked widespread reactions in Iran, with student protests at the University of Tehran continuing over the past several days.
In this context, the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign, consisting of prisoners protesting against executions in 36 prisons across the country, has called Amir Mohammad Khaleqi’s murder suspicious and held the government responsible for the incident.
At a protest and march on Monday, February 18, students at the University of Tehran condemned the authorities’ disregard for student safety, the allocation of resources to suppress individual freedoms, and the enforcement of the government’s mandatory hijab policy on women. They chanted: “So many hijab enforcers, yet not a single guard for our safety.”
The national student councils also issued a statement emphasizing: “The lives of students are not only not a priority for university officials, but they hold absolutely no significance in university policymaking.”
