Iran’s newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian has been hailed by some as a reformer, but recent allegations paint a starkly different picture from his past.

Mina Ahadi, a Germany-based Iranian dissident and former classmate of Pezeshkian at the University of Tabriz, has come forward with explosive accusations. She alleges that Pezeshkian led a radical group that unilaterally declared women should wear a hijab in 1979, well before it became mandatory nationwide.

“At first we did not take them seriously because they were a small group,” Ahadi tells Iran International. “We organized demonstrations on the streets of Tabriz. I held speeches on the street. We were against the hijab.”

“They came with discriminatory signs such as ‘Wear a veil, or we will punch your head’ and ‘Death to the unveiled.’ Later these men came with knives. They attacked us and threatened sexual abuse.”

Most alarming are Ahadi’s claims that Pezeshkian’s fanatical movement killed three students in Tabriz. She recalled the gruesome fate of one female student named Massoud, whose eyes were gouged out for opposing the emerging Islamist regime.

“We brought Massoud to a cemetery, and I delivered a speech. I said that this is a reactionary regime that is beginning to murder people,” she recounted.

Ahadi’s allegations extend beyond the university campus. Pezeshkian also insisted on enforcing the hijab at a nearby hospital, where one of his followers used a pistol to threaten non-compliant women.