Writes Saeed Kamali Dehghan:
Surprisingly, the video shown on the BBC is not amateur footage but leaked from the police archive (how it came into the BBC’s possession is unknown but may make an interesting story in itself). It begins moments before the attack when plainclothes officers used teargas and firearms against students. They later ransacked students’ bedrooms and set beds on fire.
Azizollah Rajabzadeh, the former commander of Tehran police, is named in the video (by the cameraman) as the person behind the campus attack. Many people suspected Rajabzadeh but until this video appeared there was no confirmation. He recently left the Tehran police department for a different position in Tehran municipal office.
Under Iranian law, police, revolutionary guards and other militia are not allowed to enter universities – a legacy of the 1999 student riots. This is why many believe that even though Rajabzadeh ordered the attack he must have had prior approval from Khamenei and top commanders of the revolutionary corps.
The riot police behaved so brutally that even some of the Basij tried to stop them, as the video shows. Students were harassed verbally and physically when forced to lie on the ground. Some were bleeding profusely but the police continued to attack them. This was the point when five students were killed by being beaten with electric batons on their heads.
READ MORE ABOUT IRAN’S CAMPUS ATTACH AT THE GUARDIAN HERE
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