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BEIRUT—Iran's opposition called for another nationwide demonstration on Sunday, and raised the stakes by openly labeling the struggle as a fight against "a religious dictatorship."

The statement, endorsed by leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, appears to lay out the opposition's goal more clearly after tens of thousands of supporters took to the streets Monday calling for regime change.

Sunday is the seventh day of mourning for two slain students, Sanah Jaleh, 26 years old, and Mohamad Mokhtari, 22, who were shot dead on Monday when security forces attacked the crowd. Kurdish Iranian groups announced they would observe a general strike in Iran's Kurdish provinces Sunday in response to Mr. Jaleh's killing, who was a Sunni Kurd.

The public uproar and the government's reaction to the killings—it claimed the students were pro-government agents despite family denials—are providing the opposition momentum, in addition to the wave of antigovernment uprisings across the Middle East.

"The system governing Iran now is neither Islamic nor a Republic. The Islamic Republic has already collapsed at the hands of this regime," said Mr. Karroubi Friday, in one of his harshest criticisms of the government, according to his website citing a message he sent to supporters through an adviser.