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Tehran metro breakdown sparks anti-Khamenei chants

Oct 21, 2025, 10:11 GMT+1Updated: 00:09 GMT+0
Commuters walk along the tracks after a breakdown halted trains on Tehran’s Line 5 metro linking the capital and Karaj on October 21, 2025.
Commuters walk along the tracks after a breakdown halted trains on Tehran’s Line 5 metro linking the capital and Karaj on October 21, 2025.

Passengers on Tehran’s subway shouted anti-government slogans on Tuesday after a major service disruption left commuters stranded between stations, according to videos sent to Iran International.

Footage from the Tehran–Karaj line showed frustrated passengers exiting carriages through emergency doors and walking along the tracks after a train broke down on Line 5, which links the capital with its western suburbs.

Some could be heard chanting “Death to Khamenei,” “Death to the dictator,” and “Reza Shah, bless your soul,” a reference to the founder of Pahlavi dynasty and Shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941.

Local news site DidbanIran reported that train services on Line 4, running east–west through central Tehran, were also disrupted earlier in the morning after a train stopped between two stations due to a technical failure. The stoppage caused long delays as following trains were held up along the line.

Tehran Metro’s public relations office said in a statement that technical teams resolved the issue completely, and service has returned to normal.

City Council Chairman Mehdi Chamran described the incident as unavoidable, saying “such disruptions can always happen” and that parts of the metro network are in urgent need of overhaul.

Similar outbursts of protests have occurred before. in August, passengers at Aliabad and Khazaneh stations shouted slogans against the Islamic Republic following long delays.

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