TEHRAN – Iranian citizens and top officials filled Tehran’s Grand Mosalla on Tuesday to observe a Chehelom ceremony, a traditional 40th-day memorial, in honor of the more than 2,500 security forces and civilians killed in recent U.S.- and Israeli-backed riots.

Citizens attended the event carrying Iranian flags; some held pictures of loved ones killed during the violence. Iran’s national anthem began the ceremony, followed by recitations from the Quran and prayers for the fallen.

One woman held up a picture of a young man, identifying him as her 27-year-old son, Mohammad Ali, killed on January 8 by an armed rioter. “He was returning home from work. One of the armed agents of Israel and America shot him at close range. The blood of my son is on Trump’s hands,” she explained, tears streaming down her face.

The riots resulted from a U.S.-Israeli hijacking of initially peaceful protests over economic grievances stemming from years of U.S. sanctions, as well as the deliberate creation of a dollar shortage in Iran, according to subsequent remarks by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The dollar shortage engineered last year led to surging inflation and a sharp fall in the value of the Iranian Rial, prompting shopkeepers and merchants to stage protests in late December.

The demonstrations remained peaceful until January 8 and 9, when the deposed Shah’s son—who has been in close contact with Israeli leaders since at least 2022—called on his “supporters” to take to the streets and topple the government. In response, scores of armed and masked individuals appeared on the streets across Iran, burning public and private property and killing both civilians and security forces, with some employing extremely gruesome tactics.

U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly attempted to incite the rioters before their large-scale arrests by Iranian security forces, openly advocating terrorism with instructions to “take over your institutions” and assurances that “help is on the way.”

Some of the top officials in attendance at Tuesday’s ceremony included Major General Esmaeil Qaani, Commander of the IRGC Quds Force; IRGC spokesman Brigadier General Ali Mohammad Naeini; and Mohammad Mokhber, an aide to Iran’s Leader. In remarks to reporters, they said Iran will continue to stand against U.S.-Israeli efforts to fragment the country and force its capitulation.