Iran remains in motion — from the streets to the campuses and the prisons — with one clear demand: justice and unconditional freedom for all detainees. Pensioners in Shush and Kermanshah once again took to the streets, denouncing the January state killings and demanding bread, dignity, and an end to repression. Students have called for nationwide strikes on 17–18 February to mark the fortieth day of the massacre, while university protests, hunger strikes by political prisoners, and workplace demonstrations continue to spread. The movement for justice is widening — determined, united, and refusing to retreat.
Pensioners rally in Shush and Kermanshah; Students call for 17–18 February strike; Protests and hunger strikes continue
“Mass killing of protesters is condemned!”
Pensioners protest in Shush and Kermanshah
On Sunday, 15 February 2026, Social Security pensioners gathered in Kermanshah and Shush to protest worsening living conditions, corruption, plunder, and the regime’s bloody repression.
In Kermanshah, pensioners assembled following a prior call and raised powerful slogans condemning the January massacre. One pensioner addressed the crowd, denouncing the state killing of protesters and expressing solidarity with the families of the victims, after which the crowd echoed his chants, including:
- “Our empty dining tables are stained with our blood.”
- “Mass killing of protesters is condemned!”
- “We stand with the families of January.”
- “We asked for bread and dignity — they answered with bullets.”
- “Unity and solidarity — end oppression and injustice.”
- “Negotiation or massacre — this is your reality, tyrant.”
- “So much injustice has driven us to the streets.”
Students call for nationwide strike on 17–18 February
Numerous protest statements have been issued marking the fortieth day since the January massacre. Four student organisations and 24 student groups released a joint statement calling on students and freedom-seeking people across the country to observe a nationwide strike and shut down workplaces and educational institutions on Tuesday and Wednesday, 17–18 February 2026.
The statement declares:
“We students will hold memorial ceremonies in universities and public spaces for those killed in January 2026, keep their memory alive, and stand alongside the justice-seeking families. This head has never bowed to any dictatorship — and never will.”
Memorial gatherings marking the fortieth day of the victims are being held in multiple cities, once again bringing chants of “Death to Khamenei” into the streets and sustaining a climate of protest nationwide.
University protests continue
On Saturday, 14 February 2026, students at Tehran University of Medical Sciences staged a sit-in, holding photographs of the late Aida Heydari, a student killed during the January uprising, and refused to take their exams. During the gathering, the names of several political prisoners and fallen protesters were read aloud.
Khuzestan bakers protest
On 15 February 2026, bakers in Khuzestan province spread empty tablecloths in front of the governor’s office to protest flour quota cuts and the non-payment of promised subsidies, which have now been withheld for a year.
Hunger strike by imprisoned teacher and political prisoner
According to reports, imprisoned teacher Masoud Farhikhteh and political prisoner Zartosht Ahmadi Ragheb, both held in Karaj Central Prison, have launched a hunger strike beginning 12 February 2026 in protest against the January killings.
In a joint letter they wrote:
“We, Masoud Farhikhteh and Zartosht Ahmadi Ragheb, will go on a one-week hunger strike in the name and memory of all those shot dead during the January protests. We declare our disgust and condemnation of a criminal and dictatorial system that organised repression, fire and massacre against a people driven to the brink.”
Release of imprisoned protesting teacher
Reza Moslemi, a protesting teacher arrested on 8 January 2026 in Hamadan, was temporarily released on 14 February after posting a heavy bail of 9 billion tomans. His release is welcomed, but he must be freed permanently and unconditionally, and all security charges dropped.
All detainees from the January protests and all political prisoners — including imprisoned teachers and detained students — must be released immediately and without conditions.
Worker-communist Party of Iran
15 February 2026
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