A nationwide outburst of rage is sweeping Iran, as people outraged by last month’s mass killings express their hatred of the regime despite the risks of arrest or retaliation, the Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the report, Iranians are carrying out acts of defiance as they struggle to comprehend the scale of the January massacres ordered by the regime. Funerals and memorials have become flashpoints for dissent, with mourners across the country shouting “Death to Khamenei.” University students in Mashhad, Tabriz, and Shiraz held memorials this week for classmates killed during the recent unrest. In Shiraz, medical students held a multi-day strike in solidarity with protesters and in protest of the arrests of doctors who treated the wounded. High school students have also joined protests, with one 17-year-old in Tehran telling the WSJ that his classmates now refuse to sing the national anthem.

Local activist groups have gone a step further, openly calling for the overthrow of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

“People are full of fear but also resentment,” a woman from Kermanshah wrote. “We all look up to the sky, hoping Trump will bomb us just to destroy Khamenei and his regime. We’re willing to die one by one, but we don’t want our children to endure the same pain and torture we endured.”

Security forces have targeted healthcare workers, arresting doctors and nurses who treated wounded protestors in hospitals and clinics. Mohammad Reza Zadeh, head of Iran’s Medical Council, told the ISNA news agency that 17 medical staffers were arrested following the violent crackdowns of January 8–9.

Inside Iran, prominent opposition figures have begun openly calling for the regime’s removal. Former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, long under house arrest in Tehran, said the level of bloodshed proves the Islamic Republic cannot be reformed and must be replaced.

Opposition figures inside Iran are now openly demanding regime change. Former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, under house arrest in Tehran for years, said the scale of the killings shows that the Islamic Republic cannot be reformed and must be replaced.

A group of 17 civil society activists issued an open letter condemning the massacres as crimes against humanity and naming Khamenei as personally responsible. Within days, three signatories were arrested.

Meanwhile, merchants in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar—where protests first broke out in late December—have called for a renewed nationwide uprising on February 17–18, marking 40 days since the January 8–9 killings.

The bazaar—where demonstrations first flared in late December—has once again become the focal point, with shop owners and businesses nationwide being urged to strike and take to the streets.

The dates set for the renewal of the protest, February 17 and 18, are not random—they mark the conclusion of the traditional 40-day mourning period for victims of the massacre that occurred on January 8–9.

A defiant statement published on the Telegram channel of the Bazaar Workers’ Trade Union urged Iranians to renew protests: “We call upon the noble people of Iran across the country to simultaneously commemorate the dead in their cities and continue the national uprising.”

The statement concluded with a stark declaration: “Our goal is to avenge the largest street massacre in modern history.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)