A teenage university student has been shot dead amid a renewed crackdown on anti-regime protests in Iran, as opposition groups warn that a new generation is leading resistance against the authorities.
Zahra (Raha) Bohlouli-Pour, 18, a student at the University of Tehran, was killed by Iranian security forces on Fatemi Street in Tehran on 8 January 2026, according to opposition sources. She is among six young Iranians whose identities were released this week by groups backing the protest movement.
Zahra was reportedly a member of the so-called Resistance Units, a loose network linked to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, which has long campaigned for democratic change in Iran. The group says its members, many of them women, have been involved in organising demonstrations and providing protection for protesters during recent unrest.
As protests entered their 19th consecutive day, opposition figures said the authorities had intensified their response. A spokesperson for the PMOI said: “We are releasing the names of six PMOI Resistance Units killed by the mullahs' regime during the nationwide uprising. These were young freedom fighters who wanted nothing other than freedom for their country.”
The spokesperson also named Reza Ghanbari, 17, a worker from Kermanshah, who was killed on 3 January. “Reza Ghanbari was a 17-year-old worker in Kermanshah. He was murdered by security forces on January 3 in Kermanshah as the regime opened fire on protesters,” he said.
Shahin Gobadi, from the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said the protests marked a generational shift. “There is a new mood in the country. Generation Z is fighting back against the repressive forces of the regime,” he said. “In many cities, there have been clashes between the regime’s repressive forces and the defiant youths. This is a new phenomenon.”
Despite reports suggesting Tehran had returned to “relative calm”, the scale of unrest remains difficult to verify due to internet shutdowns ordered by the authorities under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
International attention has intensified. The White House said pressure from Washington had halted a wave of executions. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “The president understands today that 800 executions that were scheduled and supposed to take place yesterday, were halted.”
Meanwhile, the Pentagon confirmed that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group were moving from the South China Sea towards the Middle East, increasing US leverage as President Donald Trump weighs possible responses to developments in Iran.
A senior US official told The New York Times that the president was closely monitoring Iran’s next steps, including potential action against missile sites and domestic security forces.
Those confirmed killed in recent days include students and workers from Tehran, Kermanshah and Salmas. Messages shared online in their memory described them as symbols of resistance. One tribute read: “Rest well – you have made your people and the entire world stand in awe of your bravery.”
Another added: “We will follow their path till we triumph freedom and democratic republic in Iran.”
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