Iranian Students Stage Anti-Regime Protests as Universities Reopen
Feb 22nd 2026
On the first day of the new semester, students at multiple universities marched and chanted against Iran's clerical leadership, days after a deadly government crackdown extinguished a nationwide protest movement.
- Students at Sharif, Amirkabir and other universities held anti-government demonstrations on the semester's opening day.
- Protesters at Sharif chanted "Death to the dictator" and wore black to mourn those killed in earlier unrest.
- A student group said some protesters were arrested at Amirkabir while state media reported conflicting and limited disturbances.
- The campus actions follow a nationwide protest wave that was met with a violent crackdown in January.
- Iranian authorities say more than 3,000 people were killed in the crackdown while the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reports at least 7,000 deaths and expects the total to rise.
- Universities and Tehran's bazaars helped expand the earlier protests, and authorities have a history of raiding campuses and arresting students.