The Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and the Universities Austria (uniko) are appalled by the events taking place in Iran. The violence against students and teachers at the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran and other universities in the country, as well as the violence against demonstrators in Iran in general, is condemned in the strongest possible terms.
Violence against civilians
For over two weeks, members of Iranian civil society, including many students and academics, have been expressing their condolences and solidarity with the student Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of the Iranian religious police on 16 September. According to the human rights organisation Iran Human Rights (IHR), more than 150 people have lost their lives in violent clashes with the police since then.
Universities for freedom and diversity
In many cases, the country's universities are the scene of civil society protests – at some universities, research and teaching have now been suspended. As representatives of science, we stand up for the values of education and research every day anew: they are universal and they can only flourish where a free exchange of knowledge and opinions can take place. Science, research and teaching in Austria stand up for freedom, diversity and inclusion every day. In these days, our solidarity goes especially to our colleagues in Iran and those with Iranian roots.
