Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi, political prisoners detained in Iran’s Evin Prison, have issued a message to mark the second anniversary of the 2022 nationwide protests and the start of the new academic year. Both elite students from Sharif University of Technology, known for their academic achievements in engineering and physics, were arrested in April 2020.
In their statement, Younesi and Moradi criticized recent comments by Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s new president, for his hollow claim that students have the right to protest without acknowledging the severe reprisals that follow. The two emphasized the need to reclaim the right to protest, which they argue is fundamental to democracy and people’s sovereignty.
Their message, directed toward students and protesters, honors those who have turned the streets into arenas of resistance. They highlighted the role of students—both in schools and universities—in fighting for freedom, despite facing barriers to education due to their activism.
Calling today’s youth the “generation of uprising,” Younesi and Moradi underscored the continuity of resistance from the 2022 protests. They warned that the Iranian regime is increasingly anxious about the new academic year as schools and universities have become hotbeds for anti-government protests.
In closing, the two prisoners expressed solidarity with fellow detainees and predicted an inevitable uprising that would continue until the fall of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Younesi and Moradi, both recognized internationally for their accomplishments in astronomy, were violently arrested by security forces in April 2020. They spent over two years in solitary confinement before being sentenced to 16 years in prison after closed trials. Younesi’s father, Miri Yusef Younesi, was also sentenced to five years in prison for his participation in the 2022 protests.