TEHRAN -- Students Day was marked in Iran on Monday as a number of Science Ministry officials, including Gholamreza Khajesarvi, the deputy minister of science, research and technology for social affairs, and Mahmoud Mollabashi, the deputy science minister for student affairs, visited the graves of the three students who were killed in 1953 by the regime of the last shah.

Students Day is observed on the anniversary of the murder of three students at the University of Tehran on December 7, 1953 by police of the Pahlavi regime.
Ahmad Ghandchi, Mehdi Shariatrazavi, and Mosatafa Bozorgnia were the students who were martyred by police.
The three were killed when police opened fire on students at the University of Tehran as they protested then U.S. vice president Richard Nixon’s visit to Iran, following the coup d’état of 1953.
This year, due to the post-election incidents, the Students Day ceremony was different from previous years. A number of student gatherings turned violent, and at certain points, police forces became involved.
Students gathered in groups of three to four near the University of Tehran and Khajenasir and Amirkabir universities, where police forces had been deployed.
There were also clashes between supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi and supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The Fars News Agency reported that the supporters of Mousavi attacked a number of students at the University of Tehran. Mousavi’s supporters then headed for the Pharmacy Faculty inside the university, chanting anti-administration slogans.
The student supporters of the president ended their demonstration with a visit to the graves of the three University of Tehran students martyred in 1953.
Mousavi’s supporters ended their demonstrations with a gathering in front of the University of Tehran Science Faculty.
The Tabnak news website reported that there were disturbances in different areas in Tehran and the police used tear gas and fired warning shots into the air to disperse the crowds on Enqelab St. in downtown Tehran. Protesters confronted plain-clothes security forces at some points, Tabnak added.
Students from the Sharif Institute of Technology released green kites into the air to show their support for Mousavi, Khabar Online reported.