90 students detained in Iran protests: Lawmaker

By Sahin Demir and Murat Karadag

ISTANBUL (AA) – At least 90 students have been detained since protests began in Iran last week, according to an Iranian lawmaker.

On Dec. 28, thousands of people took to the streets in Iran’s northeastern cities of Mashhad and Kashmar to protest rising inflation, unemployment and perceived government mismanagement.

In the following days, however, the protests appeared to turn into anti-regime rallies, spreading to Tehran, Kermanshah, Sanandaj, Zanjan, Ahvaz and Arak provinces.

More than 20 people were killed in the demonstrations, including at least one police officer, while more than a thousand others were detained by authorities.

Speaking to Iran’s ILNA news agency on Saturday, Mahmoud Sadiqi, a member of the parliament’s education and research committee, said investigations were still ongoing with the detained students.

He said 58 of the arrested students were studying in universities located in the capital Tehran, adding that the fate of ten of the detainees were still unclear.

According to the lawmaker, some of the students were released on bail.

Sadiqi warned that measures taken against the detained students would inflame tension in the Islamic Republic.

*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara