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Iranian security forces and the intelligence services have detained and threatened Kurdish artists and students in Kurdistan University as anti-government protests continue across the country in the face of lethal police violence.
Since the beginning of the recent protests, security forces have arrested over 2,500 Kurdish civilians, according to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
The fate of the Kurdish civilians detained in recent days mostly remain unknown, KHRN reported.
A parkour artist, Sahand Aghajani, and a director and graphic artist, Keyhan (Arya) Kaboudvand, were arrested in Eghbal Square in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province on 3 November.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have not allowed the two detained Kurdish artists to meet their families and lawyers.
Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence has also summoned at least 50 university students in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, since 29 October, reported KHRN.
The security forces raided the students’ dormitory on 29 October and attacked the students’ sit-in protests. After the attacks, students and professors refused to attend lectures at Kurdistan University.
The intelligence service threatened and pressured the students and then interrogated them for several hours to end the protests and strikes.
“The pressure and threats towards students of the [Kurdistan] University of Medical Sciences are carried out in coordination with the security institutions. Also, during this period, at least three students of this university have been banned from continuing their education for one semester by the disciplinary committee,” said one of the activists to KHRN.
The students announced that they will boycott all university activities, including lectures and internships until further notice.
Iran Human Rights announced on 28 October, that the security forces killed at least 253 people, including 34 children and 19 women since the beginning of the protests.
The events that led from the killing of one 22-year-old woman to nationwide protests started on 16 September.
