Students in Iran commence the new university term with demonstrations
At the beginning of a new semester on Saturday, students organized protests at multiple Iranian universities, with some encountering confrontations with pro-government groups, as reported by local news agencies and shared on social media platforms.
The protests occurred alongside ceremonies that are traditionally observed after 40 days to mourn individuals who lost their lives due to security forces during last month’s anti-government demonstrations, which resulted in thousands of fatalities in the most severe domestic unrest since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
A video reportedly displayed groups of marchers at Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology denouncing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a “murderous leader” and advocating for Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s deposed shah, to assume the role of a new monarch.
State-affiliated news agencies like SNN broadcast videos of confrontations, where protesters reportedly harmed volunteer student Basij militia by hurling rocks at Iran’s leading engineering university. Members of the pro-government Basij frequently support security forces in suppressing protests.
Protests took place at Beheshti and Amir Kabir universities in Tehran, as well as at Mashhad University in the northeast, as shown in videos released by the rights group HAALVSH, which Reuters has not been able to verify.
In the western town of Abdanan, known for its protests, demonstrators shouted “Death to Khamenei” and “Death to the dictator” following the arrest of an activist teacher, as reported by the rights group Hengaw and various social media posts.
