About Us

The Amirkabir NewsLetter is a student-run media platform founded in the late 1990s at Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic). It began as AKU-News, the printed newsletter of the Islamic Association of Amirkabir University Students, supported by campus activists and the national student union (Office for Strengthening Unity). In July 1999, amid nationwide student unrest (after security forces attacked Tehran University dormitories), leaders expanded the newsletter into a national forum for the Iranian student movement. From that point, it acted as a de facto press organ connecting campuses across Iran, reporting on student rights, academic freedom, and campus protests.

Repression and Underground

For more than a decade, the NewsLetter was a leading independent campus voice – but it faced intense state repression. In 2006, intelligence forces abducted one of its editors and destroyed the student association offices (which housed its archives). The newsletter nevertheless remained a thorn in the side of the authorities. After Iran’s disputed 2009 presidential election, the national student union was banned and Amirkabir NewsLetter was declared illegal. Its website was officially blocked by government censors (filtered in Iran) just before the election, and in a broad crackdown, dozens of student reporters were arrested and detained in Tehran’s Evin Prison. These actions forced the NewsLetter underground for several years, and its activity fell dramatically between 2009 and 2015 as students faced life-threatening risks.

Digital Revival and Growth

In the mid-2010s, student journalists quietly revived the NewsLetter using new technology. Around 2015, the organization relaunched online, establishing secure channels on social media (notably Telegram, as well as Instagram and Twitter). This digital revival allowed a decentralized network of contributors – inside Iran and in exile – to collaborate without exposing their identities. The NewsLetter became one of the first Iranian student media to fully embrace the internet, re-establishing itself as a pioneering platform even under ongoing censorship. In recent years, it has built a large following on Telegram and other platforms, using these tools to spread its reporting far beyond campus.

Coverage of Recent Uprisings

As Iran’s political landscape shifted, Amirkabir NewsLetter played an active role documenting student activism. During the nationwide “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising (2022), it intensified coverage of campus protests, published eyewitness reports of student arrests, and leaked confidential documents on university repression. For example, in 2023, the NewsLetter released a list of 2,843 students targeted by security forces – information later cited in a United Nations fact-finding report. Its reports on gender and education rights – often viewed by hundreds of thousands on Telegram – shed light on violations hidden from official media.

In November 2024, the Amirkabir NewsLetter’s Exclusive Report on Ahoo Daryaei’s campus protest—when she partially removed her hijab in defiance of compulsory enforcement—was picked up by major international outlets including The Guardian, Fox News, CNN, The Independent, and France 24, thrusting her act of resistance into global headlines and underscoring how the NewsLetter’s ground‑level journalism shapes the international narrative on student rights in Iran.

In early 2025, when a University of Tehran student (Amir Mohammad Khaleghi, 19 Years Old) was murdered on campus, the Amirkabir NewsLetter amplified student demands for justice. It live-streamed videos of dorm sit-ins and documented chants and petitions by protesting students. Through its channels, the NewsLetter helped mobilize solidarity and kept international attention on the university protests.

International Recognition and Impact

Thanks to its work, Amirkabir NewsLetter has gained global recognition as a voice for student rights and press freedom. Major international media outlets routinely cite its reports and images, and its coverage has been referenced in United Nations human rights documents. In 2025, its impact was honored with the Aachen Peace Prize (Germany), awarded to “a student media platform in Iran that connects protests and documents repression.” Such awards reflect how this grassroots outlet – born at a Tehran technical university – has become central to Iran’s student movement, advancing democracy and human rights even under authoritarian pressure.