Iranian-Canadians share ‘rage and helplessness’ amid violent clashes at Iranian university

Violence broke out at Iran's Sharif University of Technology this weekend, with witnesses describing police beating and detaining scores of student protesters.

Iranian-Canadians in British Columbia are calling for greater support of demonstrators in their mother country, as new videos emerge appearing to show the regime cracking down on student protesters.

The images emerging from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, popularly known as “Iran’s MIT,” were hard to watch for Soushiant Zanganehpour, an Iranian-Canadian tech entrepreneur based in Vancouver.

“God knows what’s going to happen to these kids,” he told Global News, adding the footage left him with a sense of “tremendous rage and helplessness.”

The university announced Monday it was closed to all but doctoral students, following reported clashes between antigovernment students, pro-establishment students and police that began Sunday.

Witnesses told the Associated Press that security forces kept hundreds of students holed up on campus and fired rounds of tear gas to disperse the demonstrations, while the student association said plainclothes officers surrounded the school from all sides and detained at least 300 students.

“Militia supported by Islamic regime police officers, stormed into the buildings, began indiscriminately beating, kidnapping,” Zanganehpour said.

“There are countless examples of them being taken away with bags over their heads,” he added, becoming overcome with emotion.

Amir Bajehkian, an alumnus of the university’s aerospace engineering said many of the institution’s graduates have gone on to work at top universities in North America or the tech and engineering sectors.