Reports of over 1,000 people being arrested by authorities comes as Emily Thornberry defends Jeremy Corbyn’s silence on issue

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Ninety university students are among the more than 1,000 people arrested in Iran’s unrest, an Iranian MP has said.

Mahmoud Sadeghi, who represents an electoral district in Tehran, was quoted by the Iranian labour news agency as saying: “It seems that the total number of detainees is around 90. Ten students from universities in Tehran and some other cities are in an uncertain position and … it is still unknown which body has detained them.”

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It comes as Emily Thornberry defended Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn over his silence on the civil unrest in Iran, saying the party takes an approach of “extreme caution” when it comes to the politics of the Islamic republic.

The shadow foreign secretary told the BBC it was impossible to determine what political forces lay behind the protests, which began on 28 December and are said to have led to at least 21 deaths – mostly of protesters but also some security guards, according to officials.

Corbyn has been under increasing pressure to speak out about the protests. Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee, said it was “extraordinary” that Labour had not spoken out against the Iranian regime.

Thornberry told the BBC’s Political Thinking podcast: “Our approach now is one of extreme caution when it comes to Iran and a recognition that the society in Iran is an immensely complex one, and seemingly contradictory.

“For example, with these current riots, sometimes they are calling to reinstate the monarchy, sometimes they’re calling out against [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei, sometimes they’re calling for Khamenei, sometimes they’re calling for the price of eggs.

“It’s very difficult, in those circumstances, to actually come to a conclusion as to what political forces are behind the current disputes on the streets of Iran.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Emily Thornberry: the shadow foreign secretary said Labour’s approach to the Iran protests is one of ‘extreme caution’. Photograph: David Gadd/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar

“So we take a cautious approach to Iran and we don’t want to leap to judgment and say: ‘Well, we don’t like the regime in Iran, these people are against it, they must be the guys with white hats.’

“Because it doesn’t work like that. We’ve seen that in Syria, we’ve seen it in Libya, we see it time and time again.”

Tehran University has set up a committee to track the fate of students arrested during the unrest, according to the university’s vice-president, Majid Sarsangi.

“Our efforts at the university are aimed at cooperating with the relevant authorities to create the conditions for the return of the detained students to the university and their families in the shortest possible time,” Sarsangi told the Iranian student news agency.

According to Reuters, Iran has several parallel security bodies and arrests are often not immediately announced. Videos that have appeared on social media in recent days showed relatives of detainees gathering outside prisons in search of their loved ones.

Iran’s state TV on Saturday showed government supporters rallying in several cities. The demonstrations were described as a “response to rioters and supporters of the riots”.