Iranian students voice support for US students protesting Gaza war

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN (AA) - Hundreds of students gathered outside the University of Tehran on Saturday to express support for students in the US protesting against the Israeli war on Gaza.

Shouting slogans against Israel and the US, protesters condemned police action against students at various US universities in recent days, including Columbia University.

Since last week, there have been several encampments in solidarity with the people of Gaza at university campuses in New York, Los Angeles, California and other American cities, which led to hundreds of arrests.

The first such encampment was held at Columbia University in New York, where more than 100 students were reportedly arrested.

The pro-Palestine US campus movement has seen a ripple effect in other countries as well, including the UK, France, Australia, Türkiye and Iran.

In the Iranian capital, students carried the Palestinian flag and slammed what they called "US complicity in the Israeli aggression" on Gaza, which has already claimed more than 34,300 lives since Oct. 7, 2023.

They also decried police crackdown against students at a pro-Palestine encampment at Columbia University and other Ivy League universities across the country.

"Being complicit in what's unfolding in Gaza is one crime and suppressing the voice in favor of Palestinians is another crime," Amirhossein Hatami, a student protester, told Anadolu outside the Tehran University.

Mohammad Haider, another protester, said using "heavy-handed tactics" against pro-Palestine encampments, and targeting both students and professors, is "unjustified."

"We are here for Gaza and everyone who speaks up for Gaza, including students and professors in the US and across the world," he told Anadolu.

Iran and Israel are arch-foes with no political or diplomatic ties. Amid the Israeli war on Gaza, tensions have escalated between the two sides with Iran-allied groups carrying out a string of attacks on Israeli and American interests in the region in recent months.

Earlier this month, Iran's Consulate in Syria was attacked, which Tehran blamed on Israel. In response, Iran carried out its first direct attack on Israel using hundreds of missiles and drones.