Shafaq News- Tehran

Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research and Technology on Monday activated university disciplinary councils and summoned students as anti-government protests at campuses in Tehran and other cities entered a third consecutive day, local media reported.

According to Iranian outlets, Said Habiba, deputy minister and head of the Student Affairs Organization, said councils were reviewing recent incidents “urgently” and that several students, mostly first-year, had been notified of charges. He warned the judiciary could intervene if internal measures failed.

Universities were closed for 56 days from January 4, officially due to cold weather. Iran International, an opposition-affiliated broadcaster, reported that students at Amirkabir University of Technology and the University of Tehran burned Islamic Republic flags upon return. Videos of protests at Al-Zahra University and in Isfahan were also circulated, though the scale could not be independently confirmed, and Shafaq News could not independently verify the footage.

Meanwhile, pro-government students affiliated with the Basij held counter-rallies at several campuses, burning US and Israeli flags and chanting in support of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The state-run Fars News Agency reported clashes at multiple universities. One student sustained a serious eye injury during Sunday’s gathering at the University of Tehran, Vice President for Cultural Affairs Hossein Goldansaz told Mehr News Agency.

These protests are the first since the nationwide demonstrations that began in late December 2025 over economic conditions and escalated into political demands. While the Iranian government estimated 3,117 fatalities during the earlier unrest, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) claimed that more than 7,000 were killed.