[Videos below.] Public dissent continued to surface across Iran, with demonstrators in the capital and outlying regions using increasingly blunt symbols and slogans to denounce the ruling system and its leadership.

Earlier in the week, protesters in Tehran echoed language used by Elon Musk in a recent social media post criticizing the Iranian regime, adopting the term “murderer” in reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In a highly symbolic gesture, one protester displayed a sign in the heart of the city bearing the words “President Trump Street.”

In western Iran, unrest was reported Wednesday night in the city of Ilam, where demonstrators gathered in the streets chanting “Death to Khamenei,” according to videos sent to the Iran International website.

Separate video clips circulating on social media showed protesters in Fars Province tearing down and destroying a statue of Qassem Soleimani, who headed the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.

That act followed a similar incident last week in the southwestern city of Lali in Khuzestan, where demonstrators set fire to another statue of Soleimani.

The latest destruction occurred on the eve of the anniversary of Soleimani’s killing in a US drone strike in Iraq on January 3, 2020, a date that continues to carry deep symbolic weight amid Iran’s ongoing unrest.

WATCH:

Protesters took to the streets in Ilam, western Iran, on Wednesday evening, chanting “Death to Khamenei,” according to videos sent to Iran International.pic.twitter.com/kKxTpbDmw3
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) January 7, 2026

❗️ — Protesters destroy and topple a Qasem Soleimani statue in one of the counties of Fars Province pic.twitter.com/kxdnq03PwC
— The Palestinian Observer (@TPObserver) January 7, 2026

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