Over 2,000 students at Iran’s Tabriz University signed a petition against the regime’s punishment of students as it continues to quash dissent.

Over 2,000 students at Iran’s Tabriz University signed a petition against the regime’s punishment of students as it continues to quash dissent.

The protesting students at Tabriz University of Medical Science emphasized the right to freedom of expression and assembly.

"The students … must not be threatened, suspended, or exiled,” read the petition, with many students found supporting protests banned from classes and dormitories as the regime tries to suppress dissent.

Addressing the university officials and the disciplinary councils, the Tabriz University students said: "You have no right to silence and oppress the students with coercive measures and adverse rulings.”

According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), 637 students from 144 universities have been arrested since mid-September, students at the forefront of the unrest sparked in September by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.

Universities have been the center of several large anti-regime demonstrations with some sources inside Iran claiming that the number of detained students is more than 700.

A few days ago, the students of six universities wrote a statement condemning the government's misuse of psychological methods to suppress protests.

Earlier, Iran’s Student Union Council said 435 students have been suspended or expelled following the recent protests across the country.

In a statement on April 12, the Council stated that "a significant number of students have received suspension and expulsion orders through an illegal process."