Students in Iran hold anti-government protests as US forces gather for possible strikes

CAIRO (AP) — Students held anti-government protests at universities across Iran’s capital on Monday, according to witnesses and videos circulating online, in a new sign of unrest as U.S. forces gather in the region for possible strikes.

The protests, in which many students expressed support for the exiled crown prince of Iran’s long-deposed monarchy, began over the weekend. Demonstrations erupted on at least three university campuses on Monday, in one instance leading to scuffles with the paramilitary Basij.

Iran launched a fierce crackdown in January on mass protests, killing thousands of people and detaining tens of thousands. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened military action in response before shifting his focus to Iran’s disputed nuclear program and warning it to make a deal.

American and Iranian negotiators are set to hold another round of indirect talks in Geneva this week, where Iran is expected to make a detailed proposal on reining in its nuclear program. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, is meanwhile heading toward the Middle East to join another carrier.

Iran says its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and that it hasn’t enriched uranium since 12 days of Israeli and U.S. strikes last June. The U.S. and others have long suspected Iran of seeking nuclear weapons. Iran has not allowed inspections of its nuclear sites since they were heavily bombed last year.

Clapping and chants

Nationwide protests erupted late last year after Iran’s currency collapsed in the face of longstanding U.S. sanctions over the nuclear program. Demonstrators have called for the overthrow of the Shiite theocracy that has ruled the country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Protests broke out Monday at Sharif University, an elite college in the capital, according to a student. The student said he and his classmates gathered outside a cafeteria midday before donning face masks and clapping and chanting during the Muslim call to prayer over loudspeakers.

As the crowd swelled, one student held up a printed flag emblazoned with the lion-and-sun of the monarchy, as dozens chanted slogans supporting exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi.

The student said scuffles broke out between protesters and members of the Basij, which has played a key role in quashing dissent over the years, as university security guards tried to separate the two.

At the University of Tehran, a protest broke out during a memorial for a student killed in the earlier demonstrations, a student said. Students chanted “women, life, freedom”— the slogan of an earlier wave of protests in 2022 — and called for the overthrow of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The student said university guards did not interfere. Both students spoke on condition of anonymity out of security concerns.

Videos seen and verified by The Associated Press showed other protests at Al Zahra University, where female students gathered and chanted pro-Pahlavi slogans.

Thousands killed

It’s difficult to gauge support for Pahlavi inside Iran, but some of the biggest protests in years broke out in early January after he called people into the streets. Trump threatened military action over the killing of protesters and possible mass executions as authorities moved to stamp out those demonstrations.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says at least 7,015 people were killed in the protests and crackdown in recent months, including 214 government forces. The group has been accurate in counting deaths during previous rounds of unrest in Iran and relies on a network of activists there to verify deaths. The death toll continues to rise as the group cross-checks information.

Iran’s government offered its only death toll from the previous protests on Jan. 21, saying 3,117 people were killed. Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from past unrest.

The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll, in part because of major disruptions to communication networks in Iran.

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Chehayeb reported from Beirut.