Defiant students at Khajeh Nasir University of Technology in Tehran spearheaded a new round of protests, challenging the clerical dictatorship over repression and worsening living conditions. A new surge of protests swept across Iran this week, with students, oil workers, educators, and retirees taking to the streets amid growing anger over economic hardship and state control.
At Khajeh Nasir University, students gathered on Tuesday, October 7, chanting “The student may die but will never bow to humiliation.” The demonstrators, who filled the courtyard of the Electrical Engineering faculty, demanded better dormitory conditions, the reinstatement of transportation services, affordable meals, and an end to expulsions and security crackdowns.
According to a Telegram channel affiliated with the university, the protest — the largest at the university in two years — followed four nights of dormitory unrest and was held “independently, without ties to any official student association.”
More footage of protests by students of Khajeh Nasir University in Tehran.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/d0gIlYeQSO
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) October 7, 2025
Plainclothes agents believed to be affiliated with the intelligence ministry were seen checking student IDs, yet protesters vowed to continue until their demands are met.
Student anger has spread beyond Tehran. In Hamedan, demonstrators at Bu-Ali University, joined by residents, protested the presence of Iraqi students linked to the Hashd al-Shaabi militia, chanting “Iranians may die but will never bow.”
Parallel rallies erupted among oil and gas workers in Ahvaz and southern fields, teachers in Tehran, and bakers in Saveh, who denounced economic collapse and unpaid wages. Retirees in the oil sector also gathered in Ahvaz, demanding fair pensions and justice.
October 7—Qeshm Island, south Iran
Workers at the 60,000-barrel refinery under construction went on strike and rallied over unpaid wages, vowing to continue until their demands are met.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/mtjdRxTyFT— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) October 7, 2025
These protests coincide with a worsening economic crisis, which lawmakers admit has pushed prices of some goods up by 200 percent in recent months. In an unusually candid session, several MPs warned that inflation and mismanagement have “broken the patience of the people,” urging the government to act before “social unrest deepens.”
Meanwhile, regime’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi marked “Police Week” by praising security forces for “maintaining stability,” even as those same forces intensified their presence on campuses and factory floors.
October 7—Ahvaz, southwest Iran
Retired and active oil industry workers rallied to protest unpaid wages and unresolved labor issues.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/hESOqpMkzy— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) October 7, 2025
The escalation of demonstrations across Iran — from classrooms to refineries — signals what one student statement called “an awakening and solidarity among a generation that will no longer remain silent.”