Students staged protest rallies at several universities across Iran on Saturday to mark the start of the new academic term, with clashes reported in some cases between demonstrators and pro-government groups, according to local news agencies and social media posts.
Video verified by Agence France-Presse as originating from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran shows protesters chanting slogans against Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, branding him a “murderous leader”, and calling for the restoration of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the country’s last shah.
Agencies close to the authorities, including SNN, broadcast footage of clashes at the same university — Iran’s leading engineering institution — in which protesters were seen throwing stones and reportedly injuring members of the Basij student militia. The pro-government Basij paramilitary force frequently assists security forces in suppressing demonstrations.
Tens of thousands arrested
Further protests were reported at Shahid Beheshti University and Amirkabir University of Technology in the capital, as well as at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, according to videos posted by the human rights group HAALVSH. In the western city of Abdanan, demonstrators chanted “Death to Khamenei” and “Death to the dictator” while protesting the arrest of a professor, the rights group Hengaw and other online posts said.
The unrest comes at a time of heightened tensions, with the United States threatening action against Iran even as indirect talks between the two sides have resumed.
Anti-government slogans also resurfaced this week as the 40-day mourning period drew to a close for those killed during protests on 8 and 9 January. Those demonstrations began over economic grievances but quickly escalated into a broader challenge to the authorities before being violently suppressed.
According to the US-based rights group HRANA, more than 7,000 people — the majority of them protesters — were killed and more than 53,000 arrested. The government, however, has put the death toll at 3,000, saying most of those killed were members of the security forces or bystanders targeted by “terrorists” allegedly acting on behalf of Israel and the United States.