A mass student demonstration in Iran erupted into clashes between anti-government protesters and pro-government security forces.
Students at the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran were seen holding a protest against the regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Footage showed a large group of students dressed in all black and wearing face coverings as they marched and chanted slogans against the supreme leader.
However, the protesters then became involved in clashes with members of the Basij, a volunteer internal police force that is a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to anti-government media.
Video footage showed the moment the two groups began throwing punches towards each other.
It comes amid growing pressure on US President Donald Trump to intervene in the Middle Eastern nation.
More than 50,000 people have been arrested in connection with the Iranian government's crackdown on protests, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The crackdown on the demonstrations has also killed at least 6,876 people, the group said, but other human rights organisations have tallied many more, and medical professionals have estimated that 30,000 could have been killed.
A student protest group clashed with government security forces in Tehran
President Donald Trump has strongly alluded to military action against Iran if the nation does not come to the table on nuclear negotiations. The president is pictured above on Saturday
The President told reporters on Friday that he was considering military action to pressure Iranian officials to negotiate the terms of the country's nuclear program.
The US has long feared that Iran is developing nuclear capabilities, and indirect negotiations between the two in Geneva last week reportedly failed to reach a meaningful conclusion.
Iran has denied motivations to develop a nuclear arsenal, but has maintained its right to enrich uranium, which is the most-used fuel for nuclear power.
Multiple reports have now pointed to an increased military presence on bases in the Middle East.
U.S. officials tell ABC News they are relocating hundreds of personnel at a major military base in Qatar ahead of a possible strike in Iran. It comes as Pres. Trump pressures the country to agree to a nuclear deal. @IanPannell reports. https://t.co/Djl1vc3w6B pic.twitter.com/PFESrpAOQG
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) February 22, 2026
Although the report did not state the exact base, the major military facility in Qatar is the Al Udeid Air Base.
The outlet reported that 35,000 troops had been stationed in the Middle East ahead of potential military action, including the USS Gerald Ford, 100 cargo planes, fighter jets, and the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group.
More than 60 attack aircraft were also captured on satellite imagery on Friday at a US base in Jordan.
Naval units from Iran and Russia simulate the rescue of a hijacked vessel during the joint naval drills held at the Port of Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz in Hormozgan, Iran on February 19, 2026
New reports have claimed that hundreds of personnel at a base in Qatar were relocating ahead of a possible military strike against Iran. The Udeid Air Base in Qatar is pictured above in 2021
Dozens of aircraft were seen parked at the base, known as Muwaffaq Salti, according to flight tracking data reviewed by the New York Times.
The 60 aircraft are about triple the number of jets that are normally stationed there. At least another 68 cargo planes have also landed at the base since Sunday.
Satellite imagery also revealed several drones, helicopters, F-35 stealth jets, and new air defenses have landed at the base.
Trump bragged on Thursday about bringing 'peace to the Middle East,' but then subsequently threatened that if Iran doesn't make a meaningful peace deal 'bad things [will] happen'.
'We may have to take it a step further, or we may not. Maybe we're going to make a deal..,' Trump said of breakdowns in nuclear talks.
'You're going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days,' he added.
Earlier this month an Iranian doctor said the Iranian regime has been executing protesters in hospital beds by shooting them in the head.
Dr R, a member of the Aida Health Alliance, said that many wounded civilians had been found lying in their treatment beds, still attached to machines, with bullet holes in their heads.
They accused the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of murdering those injured following the Tehran protests and also arresting several medical staff suspected of treating them.
'If the patient already had the shot in the head [when they arrived at the hospital], nobody would put the tube or catheter in because they're already dead…,' the doctor told The Jerusalem Post.
'So it means they went into the hospital and they killed them on the treatment bed.'
Dr R also shared chilling images with the newspaper of bodies in black bags with bullet wounds to the head, surrounded by blood, and still connected to medical tubes and catheters. These photographs have not been independently verified.
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage after an Iranian attack at the Al Udeid Air Base outside of Doha, Qatar, June 25, 2025
A combination of satellite images shows an increase in the number of aircraft at the Al Udeid Air Base, near Doha, Qatar, comparing January 17, 2026 and February 1, 2026
Mr Trump's longtime ally, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, has now called on the President to strike Iran.
'I understand concerns about major military operations in the Middle East given past entanglements,' Graham told Axios.
'However, the voices who counsel against getting entangled seem to ignore the consequences of letting evil go unchecked.'
Graham explained that he believed those advising the president not to strike Iran were 'getting louder,' adding, 'Time will tell as to how this plays out.'
The senator clarified that he respected Trump's decision and believed that the president would be held accountable either way.
Graham has been a vocal opponent of the Iranian regime. He spoke at a rally in Munich, Germany, earlier this month to express solidarity with those demanding regime change.
'I believe the Ayatollah is a religious Nazi, who would keep the region and the world in turmoil,' Graham wrote on X after his speech.
'He's a religious fanatic who wants to purify Islam, destroy the Jewish people and come after the United States, which he refers to as the Great Satan.'
Graham also visited the Middle East and discussed Iran with officials in Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
