Students burn Iran's flag at three universities, marking an escalation
Feb 23rd 2026
At Amir Kabir, University of Tehran and Alzahra, students set fire to the Islamic Republic flag and chanted against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, signaling a widening rupture between state and society.
- Students at three major universities burned the Islamic Republic flag and chanted against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei while expressing support for exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi.
- The flag-burning marks an escalation from earlier protests that targeted leaders and specific symbols to rejecting the national flag itself.
- Iran's flag includes the phrase Allahu Akbar, so insulting it can be prosecuted under laws protecting Islamic sanctities even though there is no explicit law criminalizing flag insult.
- Previous waves of protest have torn down and burned images of Khomeini, Khamenei and Qassem Soleimani and have targeted venues seen as representing the regime, including the national football team.
- Cultural changes such as replacing Quran recitations at funerals with music and wearing white instead of black indicate deeper societal alienation from the Islamic Republic.