DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s vice-president on Saturday ordered a probe into the killing of a university student after a protest gathering at Tehran University, state media reported.

A report by the official IRNA news agency said First Vice-president Mohammad Reza Aref ordered security officials to probe the case “immediately.”

The move came a day after angry students gathered in protest at a Tehran University dormitory seeking more safety measures. The protest briefly turned violent and police deployed forces to the gate of the dorm, according to videos on social media. The Associated Press could not independently verify the footage.

Protesters, chanting “Shame on you,” demanded more safety measures at the dorm and its neighborhood, complaining about occasional robberies.

On Wednesday, 19-year-old business administration student Amir Mohammad Khaleghi was stabbed by two unknown robbers who stole his backpack in front of the dorm. Khaleghi died in the hospital.

Peace returned to the dorm late Friday after authorities vowed to pursue the case with a “special” order.

Though the protest was not politically motivated, such events can ignite unrest as Iranian people under U.S. economic sanctions are dealing with the high price of meeting their daily needs, as well as widespread mismanagement.

Iranian universities have a history of protest over the past decades.

Most recently, in 2022, universities were major sites of protest over the death of a 22-year old woman, Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after she was detained by the morality police for allegedly not wearing the Muslim headscarf correctly.

The protests that followed Amini’s death started first with the chant “Women, Life, Freedom.” However, the protesters’ cries soon grew into open calls of revolt against the incumbent theocracy. The monthslong nationwide protests, which shook the establishment, ended in early 2023 after a security crackdown during which more than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 detained.

In 1999, student protests in Tehran over the government’s closing of a reformist newspaper and a subsequent security force crackdown saw several people killed, hundreds wounded and more arrested.

News from © The Associated Press, 2025