Summary
Iran criticized the reported beating of Iranian students by police at Kazan Federal University in Russia during a visa renewal dispute.
Two students were detained and later released after Iran’s consulate intervened.
Iranian officials demanded accountability and announced an investigation.
The incident strains ties between Iran and Russia, which have grown closer through defense and trade cooperation, including Iran’s supply of drones for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Iran’s government sucks, but this story really shows how the Iranian people are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Regular Iranians have more in common with western social values than those of the Iranian government or Russia - it’s been that way before, during, and after the Iranian revolution.
Not sure what the answer is, but they keep trying to protest and resist their government every few years and they get violently forced back into submission.
Of all the countries with screwed up regimes, Iran is one where I think it’s more appropriate to encourage more fluid immigration into western countries - a lot of their working age population is relatively better educated than many other countries too.
I was gonna say, my heart really hurts for a lot of Iranians. Their youth especially are living such a tough cyberpunk-esque underground reality just to communicate freely and spread knowledge and survive.
It would be a net-positive to give them a means of escape to where they’d be appreciated for their spirit, I think.