Daijiworld Media Network - Tehran
Tehran, Feb 22: Students at several universities across Iran staged anti-government protests on Saturday, marking the first rallies of such scale since last month’s deadly crackdown by authorities.
Verified footage showed hundreds of demonstrators marching on the campus of Sharif University of Technology at the start of a new semester. Many carried Iranian national flags and chanted “death to the dictator” — a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — along with other anti-government slogans.
Videos also captured supporters of a rival pro-government rally nearby, with scuffles later breaking out between the two groups.
Peaceful sit-ins and protests were also reported at Shahid Beheshti University and Amirkabir University of Technology in the capital. In Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city in the north-east, students reportedly chanted “Freedom, freedom” and “Students, shout for your rights.”
The demonstrations were held in memory of thousands reportedly killed during mass protests in January, which began over economic grievances and escalated into the largest unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana) claimed it had confirmed at least 6,159 deaths during the earlier wave of protests, including 5,804 protesters, 92 children and 214 people affiliated with the government. Hrana said it was also investigating reports of 17,000 additional deaths.
Iranian authorities, however, stated that more than 3,100 people were killed, asserting that most of them were security personnel or bystanders attacked by “rioters.”
It remains unclear whether arrests were made during Saturday’s demonstrations.
The protests come amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States. Washington has increased its military presence near Iran, and US President Donald Trump has said he is considering a limited military strike.
The US and its European allies suspect Iran of moving towards developing a nuclear weapon — an allegation Tehran has consistently denied. US and Iranian officials met in Switzerland earlier this week and said progress had been made in talks aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear programme.
However, Trump later remarked that the world would know “over the next, probably, 10 days” whether a deal would be reached or whether military action would follow.
While some exiled opposition groups have urged the US to act, others oppose foreign intervention. Competing narratives have also emerged on social media, with rival camps attempting to shape perceptions of public sentiment within Iran.