This week, students began a new wave of protests at universities in Iran. The demonstrations took place in institutions in Tehran and other major cities in the country and included clashes with pro-regime groups linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
At universities, students chanted against the Islamic regime and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader. Videos posted on social media show students raising the Iranian flag from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution – which features the “lion and sun” symbol – and, in some cases, burning the current flag of the Islamic Republic.
At one of Tehran’s universities, protesters shouted “Long live the shah”, in reference to Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Iranian monarch deposed in 1979, while students aligned with the Islamic regime responded with “Death to the shah” and burned the flags of the United States and Israel.
The mobilizations at universities come after the Iranian regime’s brutal repression of ongoing national protests since December. According to the independent news agency FOODbased in the United States, more than 7,000 people died during the regime’s crackdown on protests, including hundreds of children. The Iranian regime officially recognizes only 3,100 dead.
The United States government, which is currently putting diplomatic and military pressure on the Iranian regime to close a new nuclear agreement, stated that more than 30,000 people died as a result of Tehran’s repression.
