| Amirkabir NewsLetter | |
| Native Name Lang: | Persian |
| Website Type: | --> Press organ (news media of Iran's student movement) |
| Language: | Persian English |
| Language Count: | 2 |
| Foundation: | --> |
| Location: | --> |
| Country: | --> Iran |
| Area Served: | Human rights and media activity in the field of Iran's student movement |
| Owners: | --> |
| Editors: | --> |
| Rev: | --> |
| Intl: | --> |
| Num Employees: | --> |
| Subsid: | --> |
| Url: | https://autnews.org |
| Reg: | --> Yes |
| Users: | --> |
| Current Status: | Active |
| Content Licence: | --> |
The Amirkabir Newsletter (in Persian: خبرنامه امیرکبیر) is a student media outlet that began its activities at Amirkabir University of Technology in the late 1990s.[1] Currently, this outlet is active on social networks such as Telegram, Instagram, and Twitter.[2]
Amirkabir NewsLetter has formed at Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic). This online outlet is active in the areas of student human rights issues, documenting human rights violations in Iranian universities, reporting on the status of universities, publishing news and analyses related to security crackdowns in Iranian universities, and publishing critical articles on the performance of the Islamic Republic in the field of higher education centers in Iran.[3] [4]
The history of Amirkabir NewsLetter dates back to its origins as the newsletter of the Islamic Association of Amirkabir Students (Polytechnic Association), known initially as AKU-News and published in paper form.[5] This media outlet was formed by activists of the student movement at Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), with the assistance of members of the Office for Strengthening Unity, and each year, with the selection of a new central council for the Polytechnic Association,[6] its editorial board members were determined. In Khordad 1385 (May/June 2006), the responsible person for the Amirkabir NewsLetter website and the secretary of the Islamic Association of Polytechnic were detained by the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic.[7] [8] One of the charges against the responsible person of the newsletter was launching the Amirkabir NewsLetter website, for which they were sentenced to two years of imprisonment and 148 lashes.[9]
Following the nocturnal destruction of the Polytechnic Association office with a bulldozer and security crackdowns on the students of this university, Amirkabir NewsLetter continued its activities unofficially.[10] It became one of the influential media outlets of the Iranian student movement in the latter half of the 2000s.[11] [12] [13] [14] With the arrest of several Polytechnic students in the case of Amirkabir NewsLetter organizers in 2008 and the blocking of Amirkabir NewsLetter coinciding with the blocking of Facebook prior to the presidential elections in 2009, the activities of this outlet decreased.[15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
Amirkabir NewsLetter resumed its activities in 2015 through its Telegram channel. Its activities intensified concurrently with the emergence of the Women-Life-Freedom uprising. By publishing various reports on the situation of Iranian universities and the suppression of universities, including Amirkabir University of Technology, it shed light on human rights violations in Iranian universities at the international level.[20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27]
During the summer and fall of 2023, Amirkabir NewsLetter released classified documents regarding the recruitment of faculty members in line with the Islamic Revolution (aligned with the Islamic Regime's policies) in universities, triggering widespread reactions.[28] The publication of a list of 2843 summoned students to disciplinary committees of various universities at the request of security institutions is another document published by this outlet.[29] These incidents have been reflected in the report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Committee.
On February 5, 2010 (16 Bahman 1388), Amirkabir NewsLetter, along with Advar News, the media of Generations of the office of Strengthening of Unity (also known as the Organization of Islamic Iran's Graduates), came under attack by government hackers known as "Iran Cyber Army" and went offline. In their message, the hackers wrote: "If the Leader (the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader) commands, we will rise; if he wishes, we will give our heads for him."[30] [31] [32]