Iranian police have arrested the primary suspect in the fatal stabbing of 19-year-old Amir Mohammad Khaleghi, a University of Tehran student, killed during a robbery near his dormitory last Thursday.
Authorities also detained an alleged accomplice and three others for trafficking stolen goods, according to Tehran police chief Abbasali Mohammadian.
The prime suspect, identified as Ahmad, 23, confessed to the attack, stating: “I stabbed him two or three times and fled,” adding that he learned of Khaleghi’s death two days later. Prosecutor Mohammad Shahriari confirmed the crime was robbery-motivated and announced a crime scene reconstruction. Iranian media aired pixelated images of the suspects being escorted to interrogation.
Khaleghi’s murder triggered four days of student protests at the University of Tehran, with hundreds staging sit-ins and condemning lax campus security. Tensions surged as police, including plainclothes officers, surrounded the campus and briefly detained demonstrators.
Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref ordered an “urgent and thorough investigation,” reported state news agency IRNA. Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani posted on X that “student safety and family peace are a priority for the government.”
The protests recall the university’s long history of dissent, from the 1979 revolution to the 2022 demonstrations following Mahsa Amini’s death in custody.
