ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iranian authorities on Monday arrested two people and ordered an investigation into an attack on a dormitory housing Iraqi students. The incident comes as the growing presence of Iraqis with links to Iranian-backed militias inside Iran’s universities has become a source of frustration for citizens in recent years.

Videos circulating on social media late Sunday showed scores gathering outside a men’s dormitory at Semnan University, with some storming the residence of Iraqi students, attacking them, and taking and breaking their personal belongings.

Large sums of Iraqi students in Iran have been accused of being linked to Iran-affiliated factions within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), with some monitors claiming that they have often participated in the Iranian regime’s crackdown on protest movements over the years.

The reason for the attack remains unclear, and there have been no confirmed affiliations between the Iraqi students at Semnan University and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.

Other videos from the scene show angry Iranians chanting “shame on you” and “you’re disgraceful,” at the Iraqi students. Security forces later arrived at the location.

“Following a clash between a number of citizens and some Iraqi students in the area of ​​their accommodation, the issue was immediately placed on the agenda of the provincial judicial and law enforcement authorities,” Iranian state media cited Mohammad Sadegh Akbari, Semnan provincial chief justice, as saying.

“Two people involved in the incident have been identified and summoned to the law enforcement authority, and investigations are continuing to identify other people who were influential in the clash,” it added.

Iraqi Ambassador in Tehran Yasser al-Hajjaj told Iraqi state media that the Baghdad government has formed a special committee to follow up on the incident, which he described as “a misunderstanding and verbal altercation.”

"The diplomatic mission will not allow any transgression or abuse against Iraqi students, and will work to provide them with the necessary protection,” he said while calling on the Iraqi students to "respect the Iranian environmental and social reality.”

Thousands of Iraqi students apply to Iranian universities on an annual basis, with hundreds of them offered scholarships by the Iranian government. Iranian citizens have frequently staged protests against the growing presence of Iraqi students, whom they accuse of being mercenaries for Tehran.

In October 2025, hundreds of Iranians protested at the gate of Bu-Ali Sina University in Hamedan, west of the country, following allegations that Iraqi students had obtained phone numbers of female students and texted them to propose “sigheh” — a temporary marriage contract in Twelver Shiite Islam which is legally recognized in Iran.

After some local Iraqi media outlets claimed the clashes were aimed at robbing the Iraqi students, Semnan’s provincial chief justice denied the allegations.

“The information published in some of these media outlets about the incident does not match the reality of the matter, and the results of the initial investigations, and the dimensions of the incident should be assessed based on official reports and additional investigations by the responsible authorities,” it said.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Monday directed the Iraqi Embassy in Tehran to investigate the circumstances of the incident, adding that a committee has been dispatched to “check on the students' well-being and to communicate with the relevant Iranian authorities to follow up on the investigation,” according to a statement from the ministry.

Iranian-backed Iraqi groups have long been suspected of being placed on standby in Iran to assist government security forces in suppressing unrest during periods of heightened tension. The groups have also allegedly crossed into Iran during wartime to provide support.