Iran’s female students tell president to ‘get lost’ as protests enter fourth week

Students at the all-female Alzahra University in Tehran chanted ‘get lost’, according to activists, as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited the campus

Nationwide protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini have marked the biggest challenge to Iran’s clerical leaders in years

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Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi speaks to female students during a ceremony marking the beginning of the academic year, at the Al-Alzahra University in Tehran on October 8. According to Iranian presidency, Raisi said that Iranian professors and students will not let enemies reach to the goal again the country pointing to recent protests in Iran. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 11:57pm, 8 Oct 2022

Female students in Tehran chanted “get lost”, according to activists, as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited their university campus on Saturday and condemned protesters enraged by the death of a young woman in custody.

As nationwide demonstrations that have rocked Iran entered a fourth week, Raisi addressed professors and students at the all-female Alzahra University in Tehran, reciting a poem that equated “rioters” with flies.

“They imagine they can achieve their evil goals in universities,” state TV reported. “Unbeknown to them, our students and professors are alert and will not allow the enemy to realise their evil goals.”

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi (centre) poses with female students for a picture during a ceremony marking the beginning of the academic year. In a poem he recited, he equated “rioters” to flies. Photo: EPA-EFE

A video posted on Twitter showed what it said were women students chanting “Raisi get lost” and “Mullahs get lost” as the president visited their campus.

Anti-government demonstrations erupted on Saturday in several locations across Iran as the most sustained protests in years against a deeply entrenched theocracy entered their fourth week. At least two people were killed.

Marchers chanted anti-government slogans and twirled headscarves in repudiation of coercive religious dress codes. In some areas, merchants closed shops in response to a call by activists for a commercial strike or to protect their wares from damage.

In the city of Sanandaj in the Kurdish-majority northern region, a man was shot dead on Saturday while driving a car in a major thoroughfare, rights monitors said.