So far, reports of memorial ceremonies for the fallen have been published from at least 56 cities. The murderers of the people\u2019s loved ones threatened families not to hold ceremonies, or insisted that gatherings take place at 4:30 in the morning under the presence of security forces. But these threats and attempts failed. The ceremonies were held powerfully and defiantly.<\/p>\n
Chants of \u201cDeath to Khamenei,\u201d<\/em> \u201cWe stand to the end,\u201d<\/em> \u201cDeath to the child-killing regime,\u201d<\/em> \u201cFor every one killed, a thousand stand behind them,\u201d<\/em> \u201cWe did not give our dead to compromise or to praise a murderous leader,\u201d<\/em> and other anti-government slogans echoed through these gatherings. No clerics were allowed to attend, and there was no trace of religious recitations or Islamic rituals. The modern, non-religious character of these ceremonies was itself a blow against the ideological foundations of the regime.<\/p>\n Bereaved families stood tall and proud. They spoke publicly, honoured their loved ones, and spoke of their dignity and courage. At the sites where their children had been shot, they laid flowers. They handed flowers to passers-by. In some places they lit candles. With all their strength \u2014 and with the support and solidarity of freedom-loving people \u2014 they commemorated the fallen and declared to the ruling criminals that they stand firm to the end.<\/p>\n These ceremonies were acts of resistance against forgetting. They were expressions of the people\u2019s determination to end a regime of death and slaughter. They were demonstrations of courage, not fear. The day before, Eje\u2019i had declared that there would be no leniency toward detainees \u2014 an attempt to intimidate people and prevent the commemorations. But when the authorities realised they had failed in the face of widespread public mobilisation, they hastily gathered their own thugs at Khomeini\u2019s Mosalla so that Khamenei could publicly spew his hatred toward the teenagers he had ordered killed and toward their grieving parents. Speaking of the murdered youth, he shamelessly declared that they had \u201creached their fate in hell,\u201d and state television broadcast these words so that their parents would hear the language of the leader of killers.<\/p>\n These words came from the mouth of a criminal who knows he sits upon a sea of public rage and hatred \u2014 and that his vile regime has no place in this society.<\/p>\n What further crime do you imagine will intimidate the people? You killed tens of thousands, yet society stood upright against you and declared: we will not retreat, and life will never return to \u201cnormal.\u201d A sea of blood now stands between you and the people \u2014 and the people have only one word for you: No.<\/strong><\/p>\n Asqar Karimi<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n 18 February 2026 <\/span><\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"