Arya News - Many students remain incarcerated after being taken by security forces during and after the bloody protests in January.
Tehran, Iran – Thousands of Iranian students demonstrated at universities in Tehran and across the country for a second day as they reopened a month after deadly nationwide protests.
Thousands were killed during the demonstrations, mostly on the nights of January 8 and 9 during a state-imposed communications blackout, as the country faces the threat of another war with the United States and Israel.
The top higher-education institutes in the capital – including the University of Tehran, Sharif University of Technology, Amirkabir University, and Shahid Beheshti University – saw large numbers participating in the protests on Sunday.
Clashes broke out between anti-establishment students and those in favour of the theocratic state, many of them affiliated with the paramilitary Basij organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Streets outside the universities also saw a heavy presence by heavily armed security forces, including some filmed being called “dishonourables” after violently pushing back against students at a main entrance of the University of Tehran.
Students also protested at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, located in the holy Shia city in northeastern Iran, which was a hot spot for protests in January. Footage circulating online showed security forces charging at students inside the university.
In the village of Abdanan in the western province of Ilam, where protests took place last week, large crowds gathered on Sunday to cheer and welcome the release of a retired teacher who had been violently arrested by security forces at his home a day earlier.
Tens of thousands, including schoolchildren and university students, have been arrested during and in the aftermath of the nationwide protests. Iranian authorities have refused to provide detailed arrest figures.
Opposing narratives
In Tehran’s universities on Sunday, there was once again a large discrepancy between the version of events broadcast by state media and viral footage of the protests released online by grassroots organisations, including student bodies.
State and IRGC-affiliated media showed Basij students, operating with state permits and backed by security forces, rallying near the main entrances or major areas of campuses to burn US and Israeli flags. They chanted “Death to America”, “Death to the shah” , “Allah akbar”, and “Either death or Khamenei”, in reference to 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A young Iranian woman walks across a main street in downtown Tehran with the background of a large poster of Iran’s current and former supreme leaders, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, on February 21, 2026 [Majid Saeedi/Getty Images]
State media said the pro-establishment students “honoured victims of recent foreign-backed riots” and also claimed that the Basij members were attacked by “pretend students” who were shouting “norm-breaking” slogans.
Some of the slogans in question being shouted by anti-establishment protesters included, “Death to the dictator”, “Woman, life, freedom”, and “The blood that has been spilled cannot be washed away”. In many videos released online, students can be seen saying that they were being attacked by Basij members.
Some of the footage circulating online showed a number of students raising Iran’s flag from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which features a lion and sun , to express backing for Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s ousted US-backed shah. The IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency confirmed this, claiming that the move was aimed at “sending footage to anti-Iran media outlets” outside the country.
Pro-state students demonstrating on Saturday and Sunday also accused anti-establishment protesters of somehow being responsible for the unrest in January and allegedly rejoicing in the deaths of thousands.
“They bloodied January and ended up dancing about it,” state media showed Basij students chanting.
This was in reference to countless Iranian families and their supporters, who have in recent days been holding mourning events commemorating 40 days since their loved ones were killed during the nationwide protests. They have somberly clapped, played music in front of mosques, and held up “victory” signs to break state-imposed norms during such events.
Iranians from diverse ethnic backgrounds across the country say they have undertaken the unprecedented practice not out of joy, but to express pride for family members and compatriots killed while peacefully protesting.
The Iranian government claims 3,117 people were killed during the protests, all by “terrorists” and “rioters” who were armed, trained, and funded by the US and Israel. It has rejected accusations by the United Nations and international human rights organisations that blame state security forces for being behind the protest killings.
People shop at Tajrish Bazaar in northern Tehran on Saturday [Majid Saeedi/Getty Images]
Iranian authorities also continue to demand “evidence” from the international community while rejecting an independent UN fact-finding mission and imposing draconian internet restrictions for a seventh consecutive week.
The government says it formed a local fact-finding mission, but has provided no clarity on when results may be expected.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says it has verified more than 7,000 fatalities during the nationwide protests, more than double the government’s number, and is investigating nearly 12,000 other cases.
Mai Sato, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, said more than 20,000 civilians may have been killed. US President Donald Trump put the death toll at 32,000 people on Saturday.