Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 21, 2026

Riot police raid Iran’s Sharif University after student protest

Riot police raid Iran’s Sharif University after student protest

Students at Sharif University in Tehran had been demonstrating on the 16th day of protests after Mahsa Amini’s death.

Several students have been arrested in a raid on a top university in Tehran by Iranian security forces as protests that began more than two weeks ago over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody continue.

Students were demonstrating inside the prestigious Sharif University of Technology in the capital on Sunday afternoon when riot police surrounded the university for several hours, trapping the students and leaving several injured, before arresting a number of them in the latest crackdown on protesters, according to an official university students’ association and reports on local outlets.

Demonstrations have been ongoing in universities in Tehran and across the country since they began on September 17 in Saqqez, Amini’s home town in the western province of Kurdistan. She died on September 16 after being arrested days earlier by Iran’s morality police, who had determined that she was not following Iran’s “modest” dress code rules.

The state-run IRNA news website said no one was killed during the unrest at Sharif University, which also saw hundreds – including the concerned families of students stuck inside – flock to the streets surrounding the campus.




The campus was eventually cleared, but surrounding streets remained busy until after midnight. After Sunday’s events, Sharif University announced that all classes would be held online until further notice.

Saturday and Sunday also saw demonstrations in other major universities in Tehran and cities like Shiraz, Mashhad and Sanandaj.

In some cities, including Tehran, protests spilled into the streets as well.

The protests have continued despite severe internet restrictions that have blocked access to all social media platforms and intensify from the afternoon to midnight each day.

On Saturday, Iranians living abroad said they had organised demonstrations in more than 150 cities across the globe, with thousands attending.

Dozens of people have been killed during the protests in Iran, and an unknown number arrested. No official tallies have been released so far.

Protesters have demanded an end to the dress code imposed on women in Iran, something the Iranian government has rejected.

Iranian authorities have attempted to cast the unrest as “riots” rather than “protests” and have said foreign powers and Kurdish secessionist movements have incited unrest.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has attacked what it says are bases operated by Kurdish separatist groups situated in Iraq, most notably in a September 28 attack that killed at least 13 people.

Lawmakers on Sunday chanted “Thank you, police” and “Down with Israel” in a televised session of parliament, expressing their support for the establishment and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who spoke for the first time on the protests on Monday, saying that he supported Iran’s security forces.

Lawmakers have also invited Amini’s family to go to the parliament and discuss the results of an investigation into her death that is expected to yield its final results within days.

Amini’s family have refuted a claim by authorities that she was not beaten and that her death of an apparent stroke in police custody was caused by pre-existing conditions.

Their lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, told the Etemad newspaper in an interview published on Sunday that officers who arrested her were equipped with body cameras, a claim Tehran’s police force has rejected.



Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Turkish Parliament Passes Landmark Bill Granting Conditional Amnesty to Disarmed PKK Members
Jorge Messi, Lionel Messi’s Father and Longtime Agent, Dies at 68
AI’s Next Bottleneck Is Power, Not Just Nvidia Chips
Meta Raises AI Spending Target to as Much as $145bn Despite Pressure Over Returns
Joe Biden’s Cancer Has Spread Beyond His Bones, Hunter Biden Says
Why 2027 Could Be a Strong Year for Stocks—and Why the Forecast Is Fragile
Why Markets May Look Quiet in August After Big Tech Earnings
Trump’s Top General Seeks an Exit Strategy From Iran War, Report Says
Brock Lesnar Retires From Wrestling, Closing a Career of Rare Athletic Range and Lasting Controversy
UFO: Pentagon Releases Video of Unidentified Object Tracked Over Middle East
Ukraine Tells Senate Republicans Its Drone War Offers a Blueprint for America
Weight-Loss Drug Boom Tests the Limits of Prescription Advertising Rules
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan Sign Mutual-Defence Pact
AI Is Remaking the US Economy, From GDP Growth to iPhone Prices
A SpaceX Rocket Is About to Crash Into the Moon — and Scientists Hope to Watch
Modern Slavery Decisions Broaden the Al Fayed Inquiry’s Frame
FIFA’s Retreat Leaves a Larger Question Over Who Guards the Game
Finland Deploys Commercial-Scale Thermal Batteries Using Crushed Rock to Store Renewable Grid Energy
Valued at $109 Million: F-35B Fighter Jet Crashes in Southern California
US Says It Has Carried Out Heavy Strikes on Iran After Attempted Attacks on Its Forces
Over 24 Hours in the Air: Qantas Airbus Completes Record-Breaking Test Flight
Arrest Warrant Issued in Lebanon for Tycoon Spotted Meeting Netanyahu in Washington
Trump says Israel ‘would not survive’ without US
Nvidia Reportedly Takes Vast Texas Data-Centre Lease to Underwrite AI Expansion
FIFA’s Private-Investment Plan for World Cup Rights Draws European Revolt
Following OpenAI's Cyberattack: 'Most Companies Still Do Not Understand What Is Coming'
OpenAI Sued After ChatGPT Allegedly Discouraged Emergency Care Before Near-Fatal Embolism
Miliband Sets Climate and International Law at Centre of UK Diplomacy
Pentagon Discloses Nearly 100 US Troop Injuries During Renewed Iran Fighting
Trump Readies New Tariffs as Temporary Global Levy Nears Expiry
High Prices Push Coffee Drinkers Toward Whole Beans and Home Brewing
Trump Draws Boos and Podium Scrutiny at Spain’s World Cup Triumph
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Turkey Explores S-400 Transfer to UAE in Bid to Rejoin F-35 Program
US Retaliates Against Iran After Two American Troops Killed in Jordan
Proposed U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Pact Could Permit Limited Uranium Enrichment Under International Safeguards
Why Kentucky Fried Chicken Became KFC—and Why the False Explanations Persist
Iran Claims It Destroyed Bahrain’s Main Artificial Intelligence Center in Missile and Drone Strike
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
Reported CIA Mission Helped Clear the UAE’s Path to Advanced US AI Chips
Artificial Intelligence Capital Fuels Markets While Governments and Regulators Face Mounting Strategic Tests
China’s Moonshot’s Kimi K3 Narrows the Gap With Anthropic Through Scale, Openness and Lower Cost
Gold and Cash Seizure Puts Indonesia’s Senior Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Under Investigation
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Passenger Bound for Germany Refused to Sit Beside a Woman on a Plane — Then Slapped a Flight Attendant
Ukraine’s Leadership Rift Spills Into the Streets as Protesters Target Army Chief
The Ten World Cup Finals That Defined Football History
Smartphones Are Getting More Expensive, Sales Are Collapsing, and Even Apple Admits: "Prices Will Rise"
×