Mashhad university students call for protest, say campus is not a place for fear

A senior judicial official in Fasa on Wednesday denied reports that a person was killed during an attack on the city’s governor’s office, while confirming arrests and injuries after unrest in the southern Iranian city.

Hamed Ostovar, the head of Fasa’s justice department, said images circulating online showed damage to part of the governor’s office, including broken glass and the guard post door.

“During the incident and after police entered the area, four of the attackers were arrested,” he said.

He added that three police officers were injured.

Ostovar rejected reports that a protester was killed during the incident. “The claim is not true and is only a rumor,” he said.

Some sources reported that an 18-year-old, identified as Mahdi Samavati, was killed by security forces’ gunfire.

In recent hours, Iran International has received multiple videos that appear to show security forces firing directly toward protesters in the city.

The University of Tehran said on Wednesday that all students detained during a protest on campus the previous day had been released.

Mohammad-Reza Taghidokht, executive deputy of the university president’s office, told ISNA that all detained students were freed by late Tuesday night following follow-up by the university’s president.

He said four students from the University of Tehran had been detained during the gathering.

President Masoud Pezeshkian framed Iran’s economic strains as the product of foreign pressure and internal division on Wednesday, calling for greater unity within the establishment as protests and strikes continued in multiple cities.

Speaking at a Central Bank general assembly meeting, Pezeshkian said the country faced “external pressure from the enemies of the country” and argued that internal disputes were worsening the situation.

“Unfortunately, inside the country, instead of synergy and support, some positions and actions cause weakening and harm.”

Security vehicles were deployed outside Tehran’s Charsou shopping complex on Wednesday as authorities maintained a heavy presence in central parts of the capital.

Footage sent to Iran International showed multiple security vehicles stationed near the Charsou complex, a major commercial and cultural hub close to central Tehran streets that have seen protest activity in recent days.

The editor of Iran’s hardline Kayhan newspaper dismissed the ongoing protests on Wednesday, criticizing government remarks that described demonstrations as legitimate expressions of public pressure.

Hossein Shariatmadari, Kayhan’s editor-in-chief appointed by the Supreme Leader, wrote that the protests did not deserve to be heard, arguing they were driven by what he described as foreign-linked agitators rather than economic grievances.

He took aim at comments by government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani, who had said authorities recognize peaceful protests and should listen when people raise their voices under economic pressure.

Shariatmadari said that protest slogans did not reflect economic demands and alleged that demonstrators had expressed support for what he called “killers” of Iranian citizens, accusations frequently leveled by hardline media against dissent.