ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s Education Ministry said Monday that it had directed schools nationwide to mobilize millions of students for weekly rallies against the United States and Israel, to be held every Wednesday evening in city squares and streets.
The weekly rallies are part of Iran’s broader program for the Week Against Arrogance, which culminates on November 4, known officially as the National Day of Fighting Global Arrogance. The commemoration is associated with the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran by students who supported the Islamic Revolution and the 1964 exile of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s first supreme leader.
Education Minister Alireza Kazemi said instructions had been sent to schools nationwide for student gatherings to be held “every Wednesday evening in city squares and streets,” the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported Monday.
He said Wednesday was chosen because it “falls toward the end of the week and gives students more opportunities to attend.” He added that “responsibilities had been divided among student organizations to ensure the program could be implemented in a coordinated manner across the country.”
More than 16.5 million students attend more than 124,000 schools across Iran in the 2026–2027 academic year, with more than nine million of them enrolled in primary schools, reported Tasnim News Agency, an outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The plans also include a nationwide march, cultural and educational activities in schools, and the ringing of an “Anti-Arrogance Bell” in more than 124,000 schools ahead of next Wednesday’s commemoration of the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran.
Kazemi said November 4 held particular importance for the education system, describing the day and the Week Against Arrogance as an educational opportunity to familiarize students and future generations with what he called “global arrogance and the Israeli regime.”
Describing the 12-day war as “complex enemy plots" and the 40-day war as “the Ramadan War,” Kazemi said this year’s circumstances and the Iranian people’s resistance had increased their responsibilities during the Week Against Arrogance.
On November 4, 1979, a mob of Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran, demanding that Washington return Iran’s ousted monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was admitted to the United States for medical treatment.
The takeover began a 444-day hostage crisis, during which 52 Americans were held until their release on January 20, 1981. The event became a defining episode in the breakdown of relations between Washington and the newly established Islamic Republic.
