City boy

Babak Zamanian, a student at Amir Kabir University, one of the most politically active institutions in Tehran, is on crutches in this earlier photo (New York Times) because of a beating by supporters of President Ahmadinejad.

Last week he was arrested by the regime because of the interviews he gave to radio stations that broadcast outside Iran.

Today the revolutionary guards rolled into Amir Kabir Polytechnic University and stabbed several of the students who were at a peaceful protest against the detention of Babak. One of the protesters, Siamak Nadali is in hospital in a critical condition.

Today also a pro-democracy newsletter that was handed out in the university was discovered, which included article’s and cartoons criticising the Supreme leader.

According to the Islamic Students Association at the AKU, the newsletters were handed out by the revolutionary guards themselves on campus earlier in order to give them a reason to ban all student-published material and also gain more control there on campus.

Update: Today (Tues, May 1) more students from ISA gathered to protest their anger at this deception played by the revolutionary guards.

The allegations that ISA, an activist body on campus, has offended “holy figures” seem to have came from the Basiji revolutionary guards lead by a man named Mohammad Mehdi Mousavi who claims that they are in touch with Ayatollah Hashem Shahrudi head of Iran’s judiciary (a close friend of both Supreme leader and former reformist president Khatami), in order to get students that are connected to the newsletter expelled from the university. More pictures of today’s protest at ISNA.

Update 2: Kamangir has a rather comprehensive report of what has been going on behind the scene.