https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yj2kzkrj0o Skip to content Watch Live * Home * News * Sport * Business * Technology * Health * Culture * Arts * Travel * Earth * Audio * Video * Live * Documentaries * Home * News + US & Canada + UK o UK Politics o England o N. Ireland # N. 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The BBC has verified footage of demonstrators marching on the campus of the Sharif University of Technology in the capital Tehran on Saturday. They were later seen scuffling with government supporters. Protests were also reported at other universities in Tehran and elsewhere - with students gathering to honour thousands of those killed by authorities last month. It comes as the US builds up its military presence near Iran, with President Donald Trump has saying he is considering a limited military strike. The US and its European allies suspect that Iran is moving towards the development of a nuclear weapon, something Iran has always denied. US and Iranian officials met in Switzerland on Tuesday and said progress had been made in talks aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear programme. But despite the reported progress, Trump said afterwards that the world would find out "over the next, probably, 10 days" whether a deal would be reached with Iran or the US would take military action. What could happen if the US strikes Iran? Here are seven scenarios US-Iran tension: Why Tehran may choose confrontation over 'surrender' Can the US help Iran? What Iranians say - inside and outside the country The US leader has supported protesters in the past - at one stage appearing to encourage them with a promise that "help is on its way". Footage verified by the BBC shows hundreds of protesters peacefully marching on the campus of the Sharif University of Technology at the start of a new semester on Saturday. The crowds chanted "death to the dictator" - a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - and other anti-government slogans. A separate crowd of supporters of a rival pro-government rally - many with national Iranian flags - are seen nearby at the beginning of the video. Scuffles are later seen breaking out between the two camps. Verified photos have also emerged showing a peaceful sit-in protest at the capital's Shahid Beheshti University. The BBC has also verified footage from another Tehran university, Amir Kabir University of Technology, showing chanting against the government. In Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city in the north-east, local students reportedly chanted: "Freedom, freedom" and "Students, shout, shout for your rights". It is not immediately clear whether any demonstrators have been arrested. There have been reports of protests continuing on Sunday. January's protests began over economic grievances and soon spread to become Iran's largest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana) said it had confirmed the killing of at least 7,015 people during that wave, including 6,508 protesters, 226 children and 214 people affiliated with the government. The latest figures were updated on 15 February. Hrana also said it was investigating 11,744 more reported deaths. Iranian authorities said late last month that more than 3,100 people had been killed - but that the majority were security personnel or bystanders attacked by "rioters". With Trump's threats looming, Iranian authorities are continuing to prepare for possible conflict with the US. US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Saturday that Trump was questioning why Iran had not "capitulated" in the face of Washington's military build-up. Witkoff told Fox News the president was "curious" about Iran's position after he had warned them of severe consequences in the event they failed to strike a deal. "I don't want to use the word 'frustrated,' because he understands he has plenty of alternatives, but he's curious as to why they haven't... I don't want to use the word 'capitulated,' but why they haven't capitulated," he said. The exiled opposition is adamantly calling on President Trump to make good on his threats and strike, hoping for a quick downfall of the current hardline government. But other opposition groups are opposed to outside intervention. The opposing sides have been involved in disinformation campaigns of social media, trying to maximise their conflicting narratives of what Iranian people want. Additional reporting by BBC Persian's Ghoncheh Habibiazad, and BBC Verify's Richard Irvine-Brown and Shayan Sardarizadeh. Update 22 February: This article was updated to make clear that those shown on video holding Iranian national flags were part of a pro-government rally, which was separate to the nearby anti-government protest. 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Final missing Lake Tahoe skier found dead 5 days after avalanche Authorities released the names of the six women and three guides who died in the worst avalanche in state history. 14 hrs ago --------------------------------------------------------------------- * Home * News * Sport * Business * Technology * Health * Culture * Arts * Travel * Earth * Audio * Video * Live * Documentaries * Weather * BBC Shop * BritBox BBC in other languages The BBC is in multiple languages Read the BBC In your own language Oduu Afaan Oromootiin Amharic zeenaa ba'amaarenyaa Arabic `rby Azeri AZ@RBAYCAN Bangla baaNlaa Burmese m[?]n[?]maa Chinese Zhong Wen Wang Dari dry French AFRIQUE Hausa HAUSA Hindi hindii Gaelic NAIDHEACHDAN Gujarati gujraatiimaaN smaacaar Igbo AKUKO N'IGBO Indonesian INDONESIA Japanese Ri Ben Yu Kinyarwanda GAHUZA Kirundi KIRUNDI Korean hangugeo Kyrgyz Kyrgyz Marathi mraatthii Nepali nepaalii Noticias para hispanoparlantes Pashto pStw Persian frsy Pidgin Polish PO POLSKU Portuguese BRASIL Punjabi pNjaabii khhbraaN Russian NA RUSSKOM Serbian NA SRPSKOM Sinhala siNhl Somali SOMALI Swahili HABARI KWA KISWAHILI Tamil tmilllil ceytikll Telugu telugu vaartlu Thai khaawphaasaaaithy Tigrinya zeenaa betegerenyaa Turkish TURKCE Ukrainian UKRAYiNS'KA Urdu rdw Uzbek O'ZBEK Vietnamese TIENG VIET Welsh NEWYDDION Yoruba IROYIN NI YORUBA Follow BBC on: * Terms of Use * Subscription Terms * About the BBC * Privacy Policy * Cookies * Accessibility Help * Contact the BBC * Advertise with us * Do not share or sell my info * BBC.com Help & FAQs * Content Index * Set Preferred Source Copyright 2026 BBC. 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