The Iranian student protests of July 1999 (also known as 18th of Tir and Kuye Daneshgah Disaster (Persian: فاجعهٔ کوی دانشگاه) in Iran) (7–13 July) were student protests which were violently repressed by the Basij and Ansar-e Hezbollah. Before the 2009 Iranian election protests, they were the most widespread and violent public protests to occur in Iran since the early years of the Iranian Revolution.
The protests began on 8 July with peaceful demonstrations in Tehran against the closure of the reformist newspaper Salam. Following the demonstrations, a student dormitory was raided by riot police that night during which a student was killed. The raid sparked six days of demonstrations and rioting throughout the country, during which at least three other people were killed and more than 200 injured.
In the aftermath of these incidents, more than seventy students disappeared. In addition to an estimated 1,200–1,400 detainees, the "whereabouts and condition" of five students named by Human Rights Watch who are believed to be detained by Iranian authorities remain unknown.
Overview
The protests began on the eve of 9 July 1999 after a peaceful demonstration by a group of students of Tehran University against the closure of the reformist newspaper, Salam, by the press court. The Salam newspaper (Persian: روزنامه سلام) was operated by the Association of Combatant Clerics, the reformist political party to which the then president, Mohammad Khatami belonged. The student groups, which at the time were considered one of the major supporters of Khatami and his reform programs, were protesting in support of Khatami against the closure of the newspaper by the judiciary, which was controlled by the hardline opponents of President Khatami.
On the evening of the protests, "about 400 plainclothes paramilitaries descended on a university dormitory, whispering into short-wave radios and wielding green sticks." The paramilitaries, thought to be Ansar-e-Hezbollah and Basij, began attacking students, kicking down doors and smashing through halls, grabbing female students by the hair and setting fire to rooms. Several students were thrown off of third story balconies "onto pavement below, their bones crushed", and one student paralyzed. According to students' accounts, uniformed police stood by and did nothing. "Witnesses reported that at least one student was killed, 300 wounded, and thousands detained in the days that followed."
The next day, unrest began in earnest, spreading through Tehran and to other cities and continuing for almost a week, with unemployed youths joining the students. The Basij are reported to have disguised themselves as students (wearing jeans, T-shirts, and shaving their faces) and thrown bricks into shop windows to discredit the student demonstrators. The five days of rioting "turned Tehran into a battlefield," and was "inarguably the worst mass disturbance" the Islamic Republic had seen in its 20 years of existence. Running street battles left downtown Tehran "gutted", with burned-out buses, and smashed storefronts.
There were many arrests and injuries, and at least one confirmed fatal shooting, namely that of Ezzat Ebrahim-Nejad. The death of Ebrahim-Nejad was the only one acknowledged by the state-controlled Iranian television, however, major student groups and the foreign media have claimed more than 17 dead during the week of violent protests. Another student Saeed Zeinali disappeared after his arrest by security forces.
Major Iranian cities such as Tabriz, Mashhad, Shiraz and Esfahan were scenes of violent and widespread demonstrations as well. The protests continued at Tabriz University on 11 July 1999 (20th of Tir) and police and hardliners responded similarly in Tabriz universities and schools, entering the universities and brutally attacked students. Four students died in the unrest and many were beaten while in custody.
According to The Economist magazine, the demonstrations "took a more violent turn on 13 July, when some of the students, deeply dissatisfied with the official response, tried to storm the Ministry of the Interior, the perceived seat of their troubles." On July 13 President Khatami issued a statement "disowning" the demonstrators, stating that continued defiance of the ban on demonstrations was "an attack on the foundations of the régime."
The next day, 14 July, "Tens of thousands of supporters" of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rallied in Tehran in a demonstration called by the Organization for Islamic Propagation (Keesing's July 1999). "Reports characterize the demonstration as the régime's counterattack, claiming that the demonstrators include tens of thousands government employees who have been brought to Tehran by bus."
Student Uprising: July 1999, "18 Tir"
The Iranian student protests of July 1999 is considered to be the first massive uprising initiated by the generation born under the Islamic Republic Regime. The protest grew out of response to the Islamic Republic's violent attack on Tehran University's student dormitory on July 9, 1999, in which numerous students were seriously injured and several killed. Over the next five days proceeding the attack, approximately 50,000 students protested in Tehran, in addition to thousands more in various universities across Iran, against both conservatives and reformists under the Islamic Republic Regime and The Supreme Leader Khamenei, in particular. Student protester's main demand called for the replacement of the Islamic Republic with a government that upheld the ideals of secular democracy. The student protests of July 1999 is considered to be a foundation for the Green Movement of 2009. Many journalists and photojournalists who covered the event were later arrested, tortured, or forced to flee the country due to serious threats to their lives. Among them, three prominent photojournalists like "Hassan Sarbakhshian", "Farzaneh Kalantari", and "Shahram Azad" who documented numerous protests, have never been able to return to the country since.
Election of 1997
The presidential election of Mohammad Khatami on 23 May 1997 is symbolic of Iran's desire for reform. The elections resulted in higher voter turnout as a result of Khatami's liberal views that attracted large number of youth and women specifically. In fact, "Iran's youth...reportedly made up a large part of the 20 million who gave Khatami his victory. They were joined by large numbers of women." The election of Khatami brought hope of economic, political and societal reform to Iranian citizens. One of the ways that Khatami appealed to women was by stating his belief that, "women should be active in all social, political and economic activities, and said he would welcome qualified women in his cabinet if he should win the presidency. Efforts should be made to do away with male supremacy". By holding such liberal ideas, Khatami sets himself up for battle against conservative ideology within the judicial sector of the government. In addition, "the Islamic Republic in 1997 was still an oligarchy, controlled by a network of Shi'ite clerics who were disciples of Ayatollah Khomeini" and loyal followers of Islam. Therefore, the liberal views of Khatami did not coincide with those of the clerics. Still, it seems as if Khatami strategically attracts votes from youth and women through his liberalistic views. In fact he "distanced himself from the faltering and unpopular campaign to 'Islamize' the universities, a goal of the conservative faction". This quote indicates that Khatami noticed the dissatisfaction with the conservative's agenda and consequently used this to his advantage. As a result, the election of Khatami publicized the Iranian citizens need for reform, especially in regards to freedom of the press.
Government and the press
The control of the press that the Iranian government had was a result of the "dysfunctional dualism of political and ideological institutions". The struggle between conservative and moderate reform administrations resulted in restrictions of the press. During this time period, Iran experienced an apparent struggle of power between reformist president Muhammad Khatami and the conservative leader of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In efforts to decrease support for the president's liberalization agenda, the judiciary closed down newspapers that expressed reformative views. The judiciary justified the closure of several publications on the basis of "factional issues ... The hardline judiciary close[d] reformist publications, while hardline ones that commit[ed] similar violations [were] rarely punished". The judiciary used press policies as a tool to promote conservative views. The judiciary was able to do this because press policies were vague and used to their benefit. Consequently, on 7 July 1999 the Salam daily was closed. The basis of the closure was because of a report revealing plans by the Ministry of Intelligence and Security to restrict the press. The editor of the newspaper faced "charges of spreading fabrications, disturbing public opinion, and publishing classified documents". The judicial sector of the Iranian government had clear objectives to eradicate the spread of reformative views by closing down publications that spread truth to the public however the judiciary distorted the information to enable their control of the press.
The press in Iran, within the boundaries of the established order which consist of the president and the clerics has reflected throughout history intergovernmental debates. These debates are dictated by the structure of governance in the Islamic Republic and who holds power. The press under the Islamic Republic in Iran has never been free. The basis of the Islamic Republic ipso facto was established upon the forceful closure of nearly all the existing free press, in the mid-summer of 1980. The only period that the press was free was from February through July 1980. In addition, since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, the many publications have been connected ideologically to the political sectors that exist in the regime. Still publications that are considered to be pro-reform have endured consequence of closure. Although liberal publications face opposition by law, "they have remained resilient beneath the political undercurrents of the society, as the advocates of freedom of the press, freedom of speech, etc". Nevertheless, liberal independent publications were under risk of extinction due to the marginalization inflicted by the Islamic Republic in Iran.
Press and the July 1999 protest
In Iran, there has been a history of ideological and governmental conflicts that are revealed in the sphere of politics. Since the election of Khatami, this issue where belief and government come into contact has become more and more apparent. The internal struggle and basic factional disputes within the state are reflected by the management of the press in general and the control of those publications that spoke on behalf of the controlled sects within the government.
The student protest of July 1999 occurred as a result of these restrictions of freedom of the press. Prior to the protest, the publisher of the Daily Saleem was "arrested, put on trial, and convicted for printing" false information. In the Daily Saleem, communication between Saeed Emami, former Deputy Minister of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic to his boss, Intelligence Ministry Chief Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi was revealed to the public. The Daily Saleem published information about governmental plans to further restrict and control freedom of the press.
In response to the closure of the newspaper, hundreds of students from Tehran University participated in a demonstration on 8 July. This demonstration has been deemed to be peaceful. The day following the demonstration, security forces, including the police and the Ansar-e-Hezbollah, invaded student dormitories and resulted in injuries, arrest and extensive damages to the student dormitories. On July 9, 1999, the students of Tabriz University protested, demanding more freedom and continuing the protests started at Tehran University. Following the invasion of student dormitories, intense pro-democracy demonstrations took place on 12 and 13 July. In response to the pro-democratic protest, Ali Khamenei and his conservative supporters organized a counter-demonstration rally which occurred on 14 July. Consequently, it is estimated that over 1,500 student protesters were arrested. Some scholars recognize the regime's "overreaction to both its own reform counterparts and the opposition forces reveal[s], how weak and insecure the ruling conservatives are". The reasoning behind this idea is that if the government was confident in its laws and policies, it would not demonstrate fear. In the Journal of Iranian Research and Analysis, Cyrus Bina indicates that fear is demonstrated when: