ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two individuals have been “identified” in connection with an assault on Iraqi university students in Iran's north-central Semnan province, the Iranian judiciary announced Monday, as Baghdad's foreign ministry launched a parallel investigation into the incident, which it said was carried out by “a group of Iranian citizens,” and urged that the perpetrators be held accountable.
“Two individuals involved in the clash outside the Iraqi students' residence have been identified,” said Mohammad Sadegh Akbari, the chief justice of Semnan province, as cited by Mizan News Agency, the official news agency of the Iranian Judiciary.
“Judicial investigations are ongoing to identify all individuals responsible for this incident, and those involved will be dealt with in accordance with the law,” Akbari added.
Video footage purportedly depicting the attack on Iraqi students in their Semnan University dorms spread rapidly across Iraqi social media.
“The Iraqi embassy in Tehran received reports regarding a misunderstanding and verbal altercation involving a group of Iraqi students in Semnan province that escalated into an assault," said Baghdad's Ambassador to Iran Yasser Abdulzahra, as cited by the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA).
A delegation from the Iraqi embassy was dispatched alongside Iranian authorities to the university campus to contain the situation.
“We will not tolerate any infringement or assault upon Iraqi students and will work to provide the necessary protection and support to guarantee their safety and rights,” Abdulzahra emphasized, while also calling on Iraqi students to “respect the Iranian social and environmental context, and to demonstrate discipline, academic awareness, and mutual respect.”
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Monday “directed the Iraqi embassy in Tehran to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident,” according to a statement from his ministry.
The ministry added that it had “followed with utmost concern the assault” against the Iraqi students by “a group of Iranian citizens,” pointing to coordination “with the relevant Iranian authorities” to follow up on the probe while emphasizing “the importance of taking legal measures against the perpetrators.”
“While the ministry appreciates the measures taken by Iranian authorities to protect the students and safely transport them to their university to take their exams, it stresses the importance of ensuring appropriate conditions that safeguard the security and safety of Iraqi citizens in Iran and prevent the recurrence of such incidents,” the statement concluded.
Iran remains a major destination for Iraqi students seeking higher education. Iranian Science Minister Hossein Simayi Sarraf in August stated that over 50,000 Iraqis are enrolled in Iranian institutions, with more than 95 percent pursuing postgraduate degrees across 180 inter-university agreements.
