On February 1 and 2, a wave of student protests and sit-ins took shape at various universities across Iran. These actions were mainly in response to the widespread killing of young people and protesters during the nationwide January uprising and were held in remembrance of the martyrs of that uprising.
Students, who themselves were among the main victims of this repression, raised their voices for justice by boycotting end-of-term exams, holding protest gatherings, and staging sit-ins. Reports indicate that at more than 30 medical sciences universities and other higher education institutions, students refused to take their exams, describing this action as a protest against the “normalization of crime” and the killing of their classmates.
Students Rose Up in Memory of Their Classmates
At the University of Tehran and Tehran University of Medical Sciences (two major public universities in the capital), hundreds of students gathered in recent days to mourn fellow students such as Aida Heidari, a medical student who was killed by direct gunfire. By lighting candles and reading a statement, students turned a canceled official memorial into a protest sit-in and chanted slogans such as “Freedom, freedom” and “Death to the dictator.”
Nobel Laureates Urge Action Over Iran Crackdown as January Protests Turn Deadly#IranProtests #IranRevolution #FreeIran2026 #No2ShahNo2Mullahshttps://t.co/Xb4SyG7rVY
— Iran Focus (@Iran_Focus) February 1, 2026
Shiraz University of Medical Sciences witnessed a large student gathering and sit-in on Sunday, February 1, 2026. Students protested the execution of physicians, the arrest of medical staff, and the suspicious deaths of two medical students from Tehran University of Medical Sciences, declaring that they would not remain silent in the face of the killing of young people, threats and intimidation against healthcare workers, and the suffocating atmosphere. The gathering continued with chants against Iran’s regime but turned violent following intervention by campus security forces.
At Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, students also staged a sit-in in memory of their martyred classmate Parsa Saffar and other victims. Reports also point to a sit-in by nursing and midwifery students at Beheshti University on February 1 and protests at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, attended by more than one thousand people. Students in Ahvaz (Jundishapur University), Zahedan, and Kermanshah also joined by boycotting exams and holding similar gatherings.
Azad University (a large nationwide private university network) officially announced that 13 of its students were killed during the protests. The group “United Students” also released an initial list of 15 martyred students, including individuals such as Ahmadreza Ghaderi (Noushirvani University of Babol), Ahmad Khosravani (Sharif University of Technology), Robina Aminian, Zahra Bohlouli-Pour (University of Tehran), and others.
Khamenei on The January Protests: It Was Like a Coup, But the Coup Was Suppressed https://t.co/9DxPQYe6dh via @Iran_Focus
— Iran Focus (@Iran_Focus) February 1, 2026
These protests reflect the continued anger and demand for justice among the student generation, turning universities into one of the main centers of resistance. With slogans such as “A student may die but will not accept humiliation” and through forthright statements, students emphasized that boycotting exams is not a rejection of learning, but a stand against the humiliation of humanity and the forgetting of crimes.
