Video footage circulating online shows hundreds of students marching through university campuses in Tehran and Mashhad on Saturday, more than 40 days after a deadly crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran. The rallies, described as the largest student demonstrations since the violence last month, took place at Sharif University of Technology, Amirkabir University of Technology and several medical sciences universities in both cities.
At Sharif University in the capital, students carrying Iranian national flags chanted “death to the dictator” in reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, alongside other anti-government and pro-monarchy slogans.
The BBC said it had verified footage of the march at the start of the new semester, showing largely peaceful scenes before scuffles broke out between demonstrators and supporters of a rival pro-government gathering nearby. Basij paramilitary forces affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were deployed, and protests there were 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, Iran’s second-largest city, students were heard shouting “Freedom, freedom” and urging their peers to “shout for your rights”. Further demonstrations were reported later in the day, with calls for more rallies on Sunday. It was not immediately clear whether arrests had been made.
The latest unrest follows mass protests that erupted in late December over economic grievances, including the collapse of the rial, before spreading nationwide. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency has claimed more than 6,000 people were killed in the crackdown, including protesters and children, and said it was examining thousands more reported deaths. Iranian authorities have put the death toll at over 3,100, maintaining that many of those killed were security personnel or bystanders targeted by what they call rioters.
The student rallies come amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over Iran’s nuclear programme, with US President Donald Trump weighing potential military action even as diplomatic efforts continue.
