This year in Abdanan, a city in Ilam province in western Iran, before the school bells rang, the “first lesson” was taught—not from repetitive textbook pages, but from the streets, backed by unity, honor, strength, and collective perseverance.

On Saturday, February 21, one of Abdanan’s well-known teachers was arrested without a judicial warrant and transferred to an undisclosed location. The news spread through the city like a spark and quickly turned into a wave of reaction. At first, citizens peacefully gathered in front of the regime’s governmental and security institutions, demanding his release, but security agents of Iran’s regime detained him.

The atmosphere in the city was tense but not fragmented; people were united and determined, and they did not back down in the face of promises and threats from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

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During the protest gathering, people stood up against the heavy security presence and, chanting “Death to Khamenei” and “Death to the dictator,” expressed their anger over repression and arrests.

One day later, on February 22, news broke that the teacher who had been arrested and abducted had been released. Within hours, the streets of Abdanan became the scene of a public celebrations, as people gathered to say that this victory was the result of unity, perseverance, and collective resistance.

According to local sources, as he retreated from his earlier claims, the criminal prosecutor had initially set “no public welcome” for the imprisoned teacher as a condition for his release. However, the people of Abdanan rejected this condition and, through their strong presence, demonstrated that a teacher’s freedom is the natural right of society, not a negotiable concession.

What happened in Abdanan was not merely the arrest and release of one individual; it was a display of society’s power and the fruit of resistance, unity, and genuine social bonds. A city that achieved victory through solidarity showed that the true capital of any society lies in its connections and its perseverance against all forms of despotism, manipulation, and dictatorship.

On Monday, February 23, on the third day of student protests, several universities across the country witnessed protest gatherings and memorial ceremonies. Reports indicate simultaneous demonstrations at Alzahra University, the University of Tehran, and Sharif University of Technology, along with an intensified security presence at some educational institutions.

The start of the gathering at Alzahra University

Students at Alzahra University, a women’s university in Tehran, began their protest gathering at 11 a.m. in front of the Faculty of Art, in accordance with a prior call. Participants chanted slogans including “Do not be afraid, do not be afraid, we are all together” and “We did not give our lives to compromise, nor to praise the murderous leader.”

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According to published reports, protests at the university continued throughout the day, with students chanting slogans such as “Freedom, freedom, freedom,” “We did not give our lives to compromise, nor to praise the murderous leader,” and “This year is the year of blood, Seyed Ali will be overthrown,” referring to regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Memorial ceremony at the University of Tehran

At the same time, students at the University of Tehran, one of the country’s most prominent universities, held a memorial ceremony at 11 a.m. for “martyr” Raha Bahloulipour, a student of Italian literature at the university. During the ceremony, slogans such as “Woman, Life, Freedom,” “Until the mullah is shrouded, this homeland will not become a homeland,” “Death to the dictator,” “For every person killed, a thousand stand behind them,” “This fallen flower has become a gift to the homeland,” and “All these years of crime, death to this ولایت” were chanted.

Additionally, at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Tehran, a ceremony was held to honor martyr Mohammadreza Moradali, a master’s student at the faculty. According to reports, a group of Basij forces—the paramilitary organization affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—attempted to appropriate the ceremony in their favor and portray him as a supporter of the regime. However, students prevented this move by chanting slogans such as “This fallen flower has become a gift to the homeland,” “Woman, Life, Freedom,” and “We swear by the blood of our comrades, we will stand until the end.”

Gathering at Sharif University of Technology

At Sharif University of Technology, one of Iran’s leading engineering institutions, students also gathered on Monday, February 23, in memory of the martyrs and in protest against the regime. According to reports, students chanted the slogan “This year is the year of blood, Seyed Ali [Khamenei] will be overthrown.”

Entry bans and a security atmosphere

Alongside these gatherings, reports have emerged of increased restrictions at the University of Tehran. According to a student-run channel, following the previous day’s protest, a number of students were unlawfully barred from entering the university. It is said that security personnel, holding a list of names, prevented certain students from entering—an action that student activists say contradicts the university’s disciplinary regulations.

There are no precise figures available regarding the number of students banned from entry. The University of Tehran’s Student Council has issued a statement asking students who have faced such restrictions to report their cases.

At the same time, multiple reports indicate the presence of security forces around the Faculty of Foreign Languages and the male dormitory complex of the University of Tehran. According to student sources, a large number of students gathered to attend the fortieth-day memorial ceremony for uprising martyr Raha Bahloulipour, and the atmosphere on campus has been described as heavily securitized.

The third day of student protests comes as demonstrations have spread to several universities, accompanied by reports of disciplinary and security pressures.

Following the bloody crackdown on the January protests, detainees are now facing severe security-related charges and the danger of being sentenced to death. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights, an Oslo-based human rights organization, emphasized in an interview with Deutsche Welle, the German international broadcaster, the necessity of raising awareness.

The publication of alarming reports about the attribution of security charges to detained protesters and the holding of rushed trials—without due process and without access to independent legal counsel—has raised serious concerns about the fate of those detained.

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Amnesty International announced in a statement on Friday, February 20, 2026, that at least 30 people in Iran are facing the death penalty in connection with the January 2026 protests. According to the human rights organization, eight of these individuals have been sentenced to death within just a few weeks of their arrest.

Since the nationwide protests of 2022, Iran’s regime has sought to instill an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in society against any political dissent by bringing heavy security charges and swiftly carrying out certain sentences.

The importance of raising awareness to save the lives of detainees.

The number of detainees is very high, and many of them are being held in unofficial detention centers, placing their lives at risk.

At a time when Iran’s regime, fearing the further spread of protests, has carried out a violent and unprecedented crackdown followed by the arrest of thousands, raising awareness can help break the atmosphere of silence and lack of information favored by the authorities.

Otherwise, ambiguity and lack of information will become tools in the hands of Iran’s regime to further violate the rights of detainees and intensify the repression of opponents, without incurring any immediate cost in public opinion.

Silence and the disruption of information flow increase the likelihood of arbitrary treatment so that, in the view of judicial authorities of the Iranian regime, detainees can be turned into a “lesson” for society.

For this reason, many human rights activists believe that continuous reporting and naming detainees and those killed is a way to neutralize this tool; an action that can keep the issue of Iran at the center of public attention and pave the way for holding accountable those who ordered and carried out the bloody repression of the people.

On the first day of the reopening of universities, students at Sharif University of Technology and Amirkabir University of Technology held protest gatherings, turning these two major higher education centers into scenes of protest against the ruling establishment. The gatherings began with chants of “Death to Khamenei”—referring to regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei—and “Death to the dictator,” and at Sharif University escalated into clashes between students and Basij forces, the paramilitary force affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

According to reports published by student sources, from the early hours of Saturday, February 21, a group of students at Sharif University of Technology gathered on campus. They voiced their protest against political conditions and ongoing repression by chanting slogans such as “So many years of crimes, death to the mullahs’ rule,” “We did not give martyrs to compromise, nor to praise a murderous leader,” and “Death to the dictator.” The chant “Freedom, freedom, freedom” was also repeatedly heard among the crowd.

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As the gathering continued, Basij forces entered the campus to disperse the students. This move was met with resistance from the students and led to verbal and physical confrontations. In response to the presence of these forces, protesting students chanted “shame on you, shame on you.” Reports indicate that the atmosphere at the university remained tense for several hours.

At the same time, students at Amirkabir University of Technology also held a protest gathering, chanting slogans against the regime as a whole. Among the slogans heard at this university were “This is the final message, the target is the entire regime,” “This year is the year of blood, Seyed Ali (Khamenei) will be overthrown “and “This fallen flower has become a gift to the homeland,” a slogan often used to honor those killed in protests. Students also emphasized the continuation of protests and their opposition to the current situation.

In another part of the gathering at Sharif University, slogans such as “We will not have a country until the mullahs are buried” and “We fight, we die, we will take back Iran” were chanted. Images published on social media also show a large student presence and a protest atmosphere on the campuses of these universities.

These events come at a time when universities in recent years have repeatedly become centers of student protests. The gatherings on Saturday demonstrate that despite the heavy security atmosphere and the presence of Basij forces, student protests continue, and universities have once again become arenas for raising political and social demands.