The Iranian regime expelled 12 students from Tehran University
Following the order of Kamran Daneshju, minister of higher education, 12 students of Tehran University were expelled. The students were from Tehran University’s School of Law and School of Literature. According to National Council of Resistance of Ira, the Students who resisted against regime’s agents when student dormitories were attacked, were forced out of the dorm, and were replaced by Basiji and paid mercenary students. Additionally, in order to create an atmosphere of fear in the universities, the security and control measures have been increased and intelligence and security agents are far more present at the universities than before.
IRAN: Nation mourns death of Nasser Hejazi, soccer hero and regime opponent
La Times reported that throughout Iran on Wednesday, sports fans wore black shirts in mourning and shouted out the name of Iranian soccer hero Nasser Hejazi who died of cancer on Monday. “Hejazi mardomi [Hejazi of the people],” they cried out in Tehran’s massive Azadi Stadium. People wept as an ambulance carrying his body drove around the stadium as part of the tribute to one of the country’s most beloved athletes. His wife stood next to the goal post as his son Atila walked to the pitch amid thousands of fans huddled together. “My dad loved you all,” he said. “He loved fans of Esteghlal and fans of Persepolis,” he said, referring to Tehran’s two main soccer clubs. Hejazi was a goalkeeper for the Tehran-based Esteghlal football team for almost two decades, but for many fans, he was not just a soccer player but a symbol of quiet defiance against the current regime. In addition to being considered by many as the best Asian goalkeeper of all time, the late soccer player’s legacy included a history of opposition to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Hejazi nominated himself for the 2005 presidential election that eventually brought Ahmadinejad to power, but the athlete was rejected by the Iranian Guardian Council, a powerful 12-member constitutional watchdog. Other sources reported that the mourners chanted anti regime slogan during Hejazie’s funeral and several people were arrested.
Iran vows to unplug internet
The Wall Street Jounal wrote on May 28th that Iran is taking steps toward an aggressive new form of censorship: a so-called national Internet that could, in effect, disconnect Iranian cyberspace from the rest of the world. The leadership in Iran sees the project as a way to end the fight for control of the Internet, according to observers of Iranian policy inside and outside the country. Iran, already among the most sophisticated nations in online censoring, also promotes its national Internet as a cost-saving measure for consumers and as a way to uphold Islamic moral codes. The Revolutionary Guard, a powerful branch of the Iranian security forces, has taken the lead in the virtual fight. In late 2009, the Guard acquired a majority stake of the state telecom monopoly that owns DCI. That put all of Iran’s communications networks under Revolutionary Guard control. The Guard has created a 'Cyber Army' as part of an effort to train more than 250,000 computer hackers. It recently took credit for attacks on Western sites including Voice of America, the U.S. government-funded international broadcasting service. And at the telecom ministry, work has begun on a national search engine called 'Ya Hagh,' or 'Oh, Justice,' as a possible alternative to popular search engines like Google and Yahoo. Though estimates vary, about 11 of every 100 Iranians are online, according to the International Telecommunication Union, among the highest percentages among comparable countries in the region. Because of this, during the protests following 2009’s controversial presidential election, the world was able to follow events on the ground nearly live, through video and images circulated on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere.
