Cartoon by Jamal Rahmati

Iranian students mount further anti-regime protests

Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran 

Financia Times: Iranian university students have staged anti-regime protests on the first days of the new academic semester, clashing with pro-government groups on campus as public unrest persists.

Students at prestigious universities across Tehran have gathered on campuses over the weekend chanting slogans against the regime and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The protests come amid heightened tensions with the US, with Washington having built up one of its largest military forces in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq war, leaving many Iranians fearing the prospect of conflict. US President Donald Trump warned Tehran on Thursday to reach a deal within a “maximum” of 15 days or face unspecified consequences.

Videos circulating on social media showed anti-regime students marching on campuses across the weekend, which security forces are generally barred from entering. But an official at Tehran University confirmed to local media that several students had been arrested, with five of them having since been released. Sharif University of Technology also announced that some students would be banned from entering the premises.

In a video from Sharif university in western Tehran on Sunday, anti-regime students made the rare move of raising the flag from before the 1979 Islamic revolution, which features the ancient Persian lion and sun symbol rather than the current flag bearing the religious motto “Allahu Akbar” or “God is the greatest”.

This followed pro-regime students at the same university waving the Islamic republic’s flag on Saturday and chanting “Heydar, Heydar”, a Shia religious reference associated by supporters with Khamenei’s leadership and their willingness to defend him.

The exchanges have also included opposing views on Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah of Iran who was ousted in the 1979 revolution. Pahlavi has promised to return to Iran and help with a transition of power.

Anti-regime demonstrators at Sharif university have chanted “Long live the Shah”, while students who support the Islamic republic have chanted “Death to the Shah” and burned US and Israeli flags. The state accuses the two countries of fomenting domestic unrest to pressure the regime into signing a deal on its nuclear and missile programmes.

Tasnim news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, published a video from the University of Tehran in the capital’s centre in which pro-regime students echoed the republic’s allegations and chanted: “Israeli weapons were on the ground in the streets” during last month’s protests.

The semi-official Fars news agency, also close to the guards, said pro-regime students had objected to what they described as violations of the Ramadan ban on eating and drinking in public.

Other footage showed clashes between the two sides at Khajeh Nasir Toosi University of Technology in northern Tehran on Sunday, with anti-regime students breaking a locked glass door to get out and chanting: “We will fight, die, and take back Iran.”

Iran’s universities have long served as hubs of political activism and pro-democracy movements. Students were prominently involved in the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, which led to widespread arrests and the suspension or expulsion of hundreds of students and university professors.

Public dissent has intensified following last month’s protests, which began over economic grievances and spread to 400 towns and cities, according to official figures, turning into one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s rulers.

The tensions also come at a time when mourning ceremonies are being held to mark 40 days since protesters’ deaths — a significant moment under Iranian tradition — reminding many people of their losses and fanning their rage and grief.

Authorities say 3,117 people were killed — the deadliest episode of unrest in the country’s modern history. But foreign human rights organisations claim the death toll is significantly higher, with Trump saying on Friday that 32,000 protesters had been killed. Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has called on the US president to provide evidence for this claim.

Videos on social media showed students at Amirkabir University of Technology in central Tehran chanting “this fallen flower is devoted to the homeland”, a reference to those killed in protests who have been dubbed “eternal names” rather than the religious term “martyrs”. At Shahid Beheshti University in northern Tehran, students held up placards demanding the release of detained classmates.

The convergence of domestic unrest and mounting external pressure has unsettled the Islamic republic in an unprecedented manner.

Iranian authorities say they are prepared for the possibility of conflict, but they also maintain they are seeking a diplomatic agreement with the US over their nuclear programme, while rejecting any discussions on their missile programme and regional policies.