Daijiworld Media Network - Tehran
Tehran, Feb 22: Fresh demonstrations have erupted across major Iranian universities, with video footage circulating online showing hundreds of students marching through campuses in Tehran and Mashhad on Saturday. The rallies come more than 40 days after a violent crackdown on nationwide protests and are being described as the largest student-led actions since last month’s unrest.
Marches were reported at Sharif University of Technology, Amirkabir University of Technology, and several medical sciences universities in both cities. At Sharif University, students carrying Iranian flags chanted slogans including “death to the dictator,” widely interpreted as a reference to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with other anti-government and pro-monarchy messages.
The BBC reported that it had verified footage from the start of the new academic semester showing largely peaceful scenes before clashes broke out between demonstrators and participants at a nearby pro-government gathering. Members of the Basij, a paramilitary force affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were deployed at Sharif University, and protesters were reportedly met with force.
Additional verified images showed a peaceful sit-in at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, while footage from Amirkabir University captured students chanting against the authorities. In Mashhad, demonstrators were heard shouting “Freedom, freedom” and urging fellow students to “shout for your rights.” Calls for further rallies on Sunday circulated online, though it was not immediately clear whether arrests had been made.
The renewed campus protests follow widespread demonstrations that began in late December over economic grievances, including the sharp depreciation of the Iranian rial, and later expanded nationwide. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency has claimed that more than 6,000 people were killed during the crackdown, including protesters and minors, and said it is reviewing thousands of additional reported deaths. Iranian authorities, however, have put the official death toll at over 3,100, asserting that many of those killed were security personnel or civilians targeted by what they describe as rioters.
The unrest comes amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over Iran’s nuclear programme, with US President Donald Trump weighing possible military options even as diplomatic efforts continue.