In Shia tradition, 40 days is the standard period for the soul to complete its transition. It is believed that the family of Imam Hussein returned to his grave in Karbala 40 days after his martyrdom, establishing the precedent for the Arba'in pilgrimage.
Beyond religious figures, it is a standard custom for Iranian families to hold a memorial service on the 40th day after a loved one's passing to mark the end of the formal mourning period.
Forty days ago, Iran was a much different place. Following a call to protest the regime from the Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi on Jan. 8, Iranians poured into the streets by the millions.
đź”´Iranian National Revolution
— Robin 🇮🇱 (@Robiiin_Hoodx) February 1, 2026
Following Shah Reza Pahlavi’s call, Iran’s streets were filled with millions on January 8 and 9.
Internet Was Down in Iran - Regime Tried to Silence 90 Million. pic.twitter.com/Rsl2hNl2V3
The protests began in late December 2025 after the collapse of the Iranian currency. Shopkeepers, the backbone of the 1979 Iranian revolution and strongest supporters since, took to the streets. They were immediately joined by Iranians of all ages in the biggest protests since 1979. After the call to take to the streets from Pahlavi, the authorities decided to act.
The night of January 8-9 saw Iranian security forces open fire at protesters in at least 90 cities. The barbarity of the action shocked the world.
The body bags at Tehran’s main cemetery were stacked in their many hundreds on rows and on shelves, according to an eyewitness, who found among the corpses of slain protestors his friend, a 41-year-old mother of two.
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) January 16, 2026
Watch:https://t.co/EJN1cTe8rI
Read:https://t.co/BFshCrTnp0 pic.twitter.com/JioEnRWKbj
This video of a father searching row upon row of body bags for his son, Sepehr, calling out his name and weeping, has gone viral. It has become a potent symbol of the resistance to the government.
Watch this Leo, this is a new video that has come out of occupied Iran. A man searching a morgue for his son, Sepehr, captured a brief scene showing how Iranians have been massacred by the brutal Islamic regime. pic.twitter.com/IZVBLiiO4E
— Amin (@vbd3ie) January 23, 2026
Forty days later, Sepehr's father addressed relatives and friends.
Where the father, after the hairs of "Where are you, Sepher Baba?", reaches the steady echo of "Tell me about life," meaning we have turned the fire into our flag; we are a nation that sows the seeds of growth in our most devastated moments and builds a road to tomorrow from the graves of our children.
— Iranian Plateau (@IranianPlateau) February 17, 2026
Father Javidnam Sepehr Shokri https://t.co/byiep4E3l7 pic.twitter.com/HVxjrBPBiR
Now Sepehr Shokri’s 40-day death ceremony is circulating on social media, through channels linked to Iran’s expatriate opposition. But his father refuses to hold a traditional funeral service. Instead, he thanks mourners for coming to his son’s wedding. “We will not talk about death here. We will only speak of life and joy.” He says you may ask what the bride’s name is. “Her name is Iran,” he offers. All of this takes place in the same cemetery where Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is interred.
The celebrations are defiant, bold, and poetic. The dead are being called javeed naman or eternal names, not martyrs (shaheed), the term the Islamic Republic uses for fallen comrades. Forty days ago, many of those being remembered were waiting for help that was supposed to be on its way—promised prematurely by President Donald Trump in a social media post. Now their families have been left fighting to preserve the memories of their loved ones.
The regime knew this was coming. The 40 days of mourning have, in the past, marked a renewal of unrest in the streets. This time, despite the threat of being fired on by security forces, Iranians once again took to the streets. Instead of political protests, the people are celebrating birthdays, weddings, and other normal life events their dead children never got to experience.
Regime murderers could only stand by and watch.
Iran — Protests Renew at 40-Day Memorials
— ZIONS OF ISRAEL (@Israeli_Sniper) February 19, 2026
Anti-regime protests flared in cities including Najafabad (Isfahan Province) as 40-day memorials for January victims turned into demonstrations. Crowds chanted “For every person the regime kills, thousands will rise” and “Long live the… pic.twitter.com/lqJi8OZNsZ
đź”´ Khorramabad, Lorestan, Iran
— Savakzadeh (@Savakzadeh) February 19, 2026
Today: Islamic republic terrorist forces have gathered outside the cemetery where people are attending the 40th-day memorial for their friends & family.
This shows exactly how scared they! The end is near for them. pic.twitter.com/73lL7TjkeL
“People are angry and getting ready for the second go,” Nazenin Ansari, an editor at the opposition newspaper Kayhan London, says. “Iran pre–January 7 [before the height of the protests] is not the same as Iran post–January 10 [when the regime began killing demonstrators en masse].”
Arrests continue, and family members who complain are threatened with repercussions, sometimes of a sexual and violent nature, according to Ansari. After the protests, she told me, regime henchmen visited at least one school and demanded students, both boys and girls, lift their tops so that they could see who had birdshot wounds. Fourteen protesters were sentenced to death on Monday, according to Iran International TV. Activists worry that if their names are not circulated and pressure is not applied to the regime, they will be killed soon.
People have always spoken about brain drain from Iran, since young people there often pursue freedom and greater opportunity overseas. Now the talk is of the thousands of brilliant young people who have been lost to violence from their own government.
“It brings tears to my eyes how courageous they are, and to what extent they are putting their lives on the line,” Ansari told the Free Press. “These are our modern-day heroes. You know Iranians love to read the Shahnameh,” she said, referring to the epic Book of Kings from Iran’s mythical past. “But now we have the story in real life.”
There are at least 30,000 stories to add to the Book of Kings of Iranian men and women, boys and girls, moms and dads, grandparents, and all the loved ones cut down because one, old, feeble man wants to remain in power.
Related: War With Iran 'Imminent'? Trump Could Give the 'Go' Order at Any Time
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