By Ann Grünhäuser
Introduction
On 28 December 2025, protests erupted across Iran, rooted in longstanding economic, political, and social grievances. Merchants and shopkeepers in Tehran led the first strikes, but students quickly emerged as a visible and influential force, linking campus activism to broader societal unrest. While not the sole drivers, students played a key role in politicising the movement, sustaining momentum, and increasing public visibility.
The protest wave echoes the precedent set by the 2022 protests, when Mahsa Amini’s death ignited demonstrations across more than 150 cities. Organisational strategies, campus networks, and prior mobilisation experience created conditions in which student activism could reemerge, despite changes in campus networks and the departure of individual participants. The renewed protests have been met with severe state repression, including mass arrests, live ammunition, and the alleged threat of the death penalty for those resisting authorities.
Economic, Political, and Environmental Drivers
Iran’s economic crisis has evolved over several years and has been exacerbated by both external shocks and internal structural weaknesses. Conditions deteriorated significantly after the United States withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions in 2018, and worsened further following coordinated U.S. and Israeli air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025. The attacks caused significant damage to key sites, including Natanz, Fordow, and Esfahan. The renewed U.S. strikes in February 2026 further intensified currency volatility and investor uncertainty while strengthening the regime’s securitisation narrative. Although external military pressure is not the root cause of domestic unrest, it reshapes the political opportunity structure in which student activism operates—expanding the state’s capacity to frame dissent as foreign-backed destabilisation and increasing the risks associated with campus mobilisation. At the same time, chronic mismanagement, systemic corruption, and environmental degradation—most notably the ongoing water crisis—have eroded livelihoods and food security, disproportionately affecting rural and peripheral regions now at the forefront of water-related hardships.
Earlier episodes of unrest had already exposed deep societal and political fractures. In 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, while in the custody of Iran’s morality police, triggered nationwide protests that came to be known as the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement. While these protests occurred years before the latest wave, they revealed persistent vulnerabilities in state–society relations. What began as opposition to compulsory dress codes evolved into broader demands for civil liberties and human rights. During this period, students worked closely with women’s rights activists—particularly within universities—to organise demonstrations and amplify protests. Demonstrations were reported in cities across the country, highlighting both the breadth of the movement and the mobilising capacity of student networks.
Student Mobilisation and Impact
For students, participation in this movement comes at a high personal cost, increasingly impacting their education, career prospects, and personal security. Academic suspensions, expulsions, and informal blacklisting block access to professional and public-sector opportunities, transforming higher education from a pathway to social mobility into an instrument of political control. Student activism thus reflects not only ideological opposition, but a willingness to accept irreversible personal costs—transforming protest into a form of existential political engagement rather than episodic dissent.
Since late 2025, strikes and demonstrations—driven by economic, environmental, and political grievances—have continued to intensify. Students remain highly visible in shaping the protests, helping transform initially economically focused actions into an ongoing political confrontation with state authority. Through public campaigns, campus media, and digital platforms, they frame structural failures—economic mismanagement, environmental decline, and deficiency—as governance failures that directly affect citizens’ lives. These networks sustain visibility, connect diverse grievances, and facilitate coordination across cities. Despite repeated internet shutdowns, activists have often circumvented restrictions through satellite connections such as Starlink, while social media and messaging apps enable rapid information sharing and help maintain momentum during periods of blackout. Together, physical mobilisation and digital coordination extend student influence beyond campuses, link regional and national protest dynamics, and simultaneously expose participants to heightened surveillance and repression.
While student activism remains central in urban centres, regional dynamics also shape the movement. Mobilisation has taken different forms in Kurdish-majority regions such as Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah, and Ilam. Students once again participated in these protests. This shows that, while student activism remains central in many urban centres, leadership and organisational dynamics vary across regions, reflecting the broader diversity of actors driving Iran’s ongoing unrest. It also highlights the role of youth leadership in shaping the movement.
Repression and University Environment
The regime’s response has extended beyond public streets to university campuses. Apart from dormitory closures and suspensions, activists face academic penalties, study restrictions, and arrests. These measures fundamentally alter the meaning of higher education for students. Universities no longer function solely as sites of learning or elite formation, but as arenas where political loyalty is monitored and enforced. Security forces have used coercive measures, including detentions and, in some cases, live ammunition. Professors who supported student protests or expressed solidarity with the 2022 nationwide movement have also faced termination or suspension, including prominent female academics. The regime’s “Homogenisation of the Higher Education Body,” affecting universities across the country, signalled a push to increase alignment between faculty and state priorities, with a National Security Council resolution reportedly calling for the recruitment of aligned academics. Students protested these dismissals, defending their professors, while campus media frequently documented arrests and disciplinary measures. The reports helped link student concerns with broader social and economic grievances, involving merchants, workers, and local communities, illustrating how university activism contributed to a wider movement—even if its scale varied across regions. For students, this shift undermines academic autonomy and erodes confidence that educational achievement—not political loyalty—determines future opportunity.
Historical Context
The prominence of students in current protests reflects a long-standing tradition in Iran. From revolutionary mobilisations in the 1970s to reform-era activism in the 1990s and 2000s, universities have served as semi-autonomous spaces for political expression. Historical episodes, such as the July 1999 Tehran University protests—when security forces raided dormitories, leaving at least one student dead and hundreds injured—demonstrate that Iranian students have long faced harsh repression, yet this did not prevent them from mobilising across the country. What distinguishes the current wave is the cumulative effect of repression on a generation whose educational and professional futures are increasingly foreclosed. By criminalising dissent within higher education, the regime undermines its own long-term governance capacity.
Iranian student activism also mirrors global youth-led movements—from the European revolts of 1968 to Tiananmen Square in 1989—where students catalyse broader mobilisation by linking localised grievances to systemic challenges. These cases highlight how symbolic campus leadership, rapid mobilisation, and predictable forms of repression can shape the trajectory of a broader social movement, paralleling the obstacles and strategies encountered by students in Iran today.
International and Policy Dimensions
The protests have drawn significant global solidarity. Student groups, universities, and civil society organisations worldwide have condemned violence against protesters and called for human rights protections. Coordinated global actions and symbolic gestures highlight the international relevance of Iran’s struggle for freedom, dignity, and civil liberties.
For Iranian students, the internationalisation of the protests has tangible significance beyond symbolic solidarity. Global attention provides a degree of visibility that can deter the most extreme forms of repression and offers alternative channels for advocacy when domestic space for dissent is closed. International networks also create practical opportunities for students under pressure, such as scholarships, visiting programmes, and academic safe havens.
Implications: A Global Student Front
The protests in Iran are not simply a matter of foreign policy—they represent a critical struggle over the role and autonomy of universities. When the state uses surveillance technologies to monitor students or dismisses professors for political engagement, it transforms campuses from spaces of learning into instruments of control. These actions carry implications far beyond Iran, signalling potential constraints on academic freedom globally.
Targeted Accountability over Broad Sanctions
Broad economic sanctions risk generating diffuse economic effects that disproportionately affect students and civil society actors while leaving primary decision-makers insulated from pressure. A more effective approach is surgical accountability: measures focused on those directly responsible for repression, including officials, judges, and security personnel enforcing campus crackdowns. Freezing assets, restricting travel, and public exposure of these actors can hold them accountable without undermining the livelihoods, education, and safety of students.
Building Academic Safe Havens
The regime’s attempts to blackball students—through suspensions, expulsions, and blacklisting—seek to foreclose their futures. International universities can mitigate educational disruption through accelerated scholarship pathways, remote learning options, and institutional partnerships designed to protect students affected by political dismissal or disciplinary exclusion. Supporting these students ensures continuity in their education and professional development, preserving a generation of potential leaders and civil society actors.
Supporting Digital Resilience
Iranian students are increasingly relying on satellite internet, VPNs, and encrypted communication to maintain coordination and access information. Supporting digital resilience infrastructure, including open-source security platforms and access to uncensored communication channels, strengthens the capacity of students to coordinate safely, document abuses, and maintain academic continuity under restrictive conditions. Not only are these measures essential for the immediate struggle, but also a model for defending academic and civic freedoms worldwide.
The Campus as an Indicator
The targeting of students and universities reflects a regime aware of its declining legitimacy. When the state views its own campuses as threats, it signals structural weakness and the strategic importance of youth leadership. For the international student community, the choice is clear: silence perpetuates repression, while solidarity can amplify the voices of those facing risk. International responses influence the cost–benefit calculations of state authorities and shape the protective environment available to students. Providing accountability, educational opportunities, and digital protection to Iranian students is not an ideological commitment; it is a measured response to systemic instability with tangible implications for both domestic and international resilience.
“The evolving role of universities in Iran’s unrest reflects the contested balance between institutional autonomy and political authority. Academic freedom is a systemic condition — developments there demonstrate why its protection matters globally.”
Sources:
References (APA 7)
- Al Jazeera. (2026, January 12). What we know about the protests sweeping Iran. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/12/what-we-know-about-the-protests-sweeping-iran
- BBC. (2009). July 1999 Tehran University protests. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/828696.stm
- CNN. (2022, October 5). Iran protests after Mahsa Amini’s death. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/05/middleeast/iran-protests-regime-intl
- DAAD. (2022). DAAD condemns violence in Iran. https://www.daad.de/en/press-releases/daad-verurteilt-gewalt-iran_2022/
- Deutsche Welle. (2025). Fearing new protests, Iran regime starts wave of arrests. https://www.dw.com/en/fearing-new-protests-iran-regime-starts-wave-of-arrests/a-71848842
- EASA. (2022). Statement in solidarity with Iranian protests. https://easaonline.org/letters-of-support/easa-statement-in-solidarity-with-iranian-protests/
- European Parliament. (2022). Policy analysis on Iran protests. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2022/733671/EPRS_ATA%282022%29733671_EN.pdf
- JINSA. (2026). Why Iran’s protest movement cannot succeed without the Kurds. https://jinsa.org/jinsa_report/why-irans-protest-movement-cannot-succeed-without-the-kurds/
- Jerusalem Post. (2025, December). Protests erupt in Iran: Students join demonstrations. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-882111
- Libero Reporter. (2025, December). Protests by university students in Iran spread from Tehran to Isfahan. https://www.liberoreporter.it/2025/12/eng-news/protests-by-university-students-in-iran-spread-from-tehran-to-isfahan.html
- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. (2025). Economic pressures and political unrest in Iran. https://www.rferl.org/a/Iran_Student_Protests/1182717.html
- Reuters. (2026, January 12). Iran protest death toll reaches 2,000. https://www.paturkey.com/news/2026/reuters-iran-protest-death-toll-reaches-2000-26708/Reuters. (2026, January 12). Iranians tap Musk’s Starlink to skirt internet blackout. https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/iranians-tap-musks-starlink-skirt-internet-blackout-sources-say-2026-01-12/
- Sky News. (2025). Why are people protesting in Iran? Everything you need to know. https://news.sky.com/story/why-are-people-protesting-in-iran-everything-you-need-to-know-13490639
- Spiegel. (2025). Several students arrested after protests in Iran. https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/iran-offenbar-mehrere-studenten-nach-protesten-verhaftet-a-dcc3da3f-5a9b-411d-adf4-f83aec6fa98e
- State Press. (2026, January). Iran protest and university environment. https://www.statepress.com/article/2026/01/politics-iran-protest-asu
- Today @ Duke. (2022, September). Protests grow more frequent as young Iranians demand more freedoms. https://www.today.duke.edu/2022/09/protests-grow-more-frequent-young-iranians-demand-more-freedoms-experts-say
- WNCRI. (2024, January 5). December 2023 report 2. https://wncri.org/2024/01/05/december-2023-report-2/