Thousands march in US to back Iranian anti-government protesters
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
People march in an anti-Iranian regime rally in Los Angeles, California, on Jan 18.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
LOS ANGELES - Thousands in the United States staged large demonstrations on Jan 18 denouncing the Iranian government’s deadly crackdown
Several thousand people marched in Los Angeles, home to the world’s largest Iranian diaspora, while several hundred others gathered in New York, AFP journalists’ in both cities reported.
US protesters could be seen carrying signs condemning a “New Holocaust”, a “genocide in the making” and the “terror” of the Iranian government.
“My heart is heavy and my soul is crushed; I’m at a loss for words to describe how angry I am,” said Ms Perry Faraz at the demonstration in Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the US.
The 62-year-old payroll manager, who fled Iran in 2006, learnt last week that one of her young cousins had been killed during the overseas rallies held in her native country.
“He wasn’t even 10 years old. That’s horrible,” she said.
Demonstrations sparked by anger over economic hardship exploded into protests in late December 2025 in what has been widely seen as the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in recent years.
The rallies subsided after a government crackdown in Iran that rights groups have called a “massacre” carried out by security forces under the cover of a communications blackout that started on Jan 8.
Norway-based Iran Human Rights says it has verified the deaths of 3,428 protesters killed by security forces, confirming cases through sources within the Islamic Republic’s health and medical system, witnesses and independent sources.
The NGO warned that the true toll is likely to be far higher. Media cannot independently confirm the figure and Iranian officials have not given an exact death toll.
Calls for US intervention
“This mass murdering of the population is terribly upsetting,” Mr Ali Parvaneh, a 65-year-old lawyer protesting in LA, said.
Like many protesters, Mr Parvaneh carried a “Make Iran Great Again” sign and said he wanted US President Donald Trump to intervene by targeting the country’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Some in the crowd in LA went as far as to call for the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has been in power for more than 25 years.
People wrapped in plastic bags lie on the ground on Jan 18 to represent those who died in the protest in Iran.
PHOTO: AFP
After having attacked Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, Mr Trump sent mixed signals on possible US intervention last week.
The Republican first threatened to intervene if Iranian protesters were killed, but then said he was satisfied by Iranian assurances that demonstrators would not be executed.
“I really hope that Trump will go one step beyond just voicing support,” Mr Parvaneh said.
Many protesting in the Californian city chanted slogans in support of the US President and Mr Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former shah of Iran
‘Don’t need a puppet’
Mr Parvaneh echoed Mr Pahlavi’s popularity among some segments of Iran’s exiled and expatriate population.
“Had the monarchy stayed in place, it would be much different and Iran would be in a much better situation,” he said.
Mr Pahlavi’s support base is concentrated abroad while his political sway within Iran is limited.
The former shah’s son, who lives in exile near Washington, said last week he would be ready to return to Iran – but it is unclear if most Iranians want this.
The Iranian opposition remains divided, and memories of the Shah’s brutal repression of his left-wing opponents remain vivid.
Demonstrators protesting the deadly crackdown in an Iran rally near the White House in Washington on Jan 17.
PHOTO: AFP
On Jan 11, a man caused minor injuries when he drove a truck into a demonstration held by Iranians in Los Angeles
The sign was referring to the 1953 coup that saw Iran’s government overthrown in an operation backed by the US and Britain that had seen Mr Pahlavi installed as the country’s leader.
In Los Angeles’ Westwood neighbourhood, nicknamed “Tehrangeles”, restaurant owner Roozbeh Farahanipour believes the diaspora must support Iranians without infringing on their “right to decide their own future”.
“They don’t need a puppet implanted by the West,” said the 54-year-old.
Others in California also share that view.
“Trump is playing the Iranian people,” said poet Karim Farsis, a resident of the San Francisco Bay area.
Ms Farsis, an academic, stresses that it is US sanctions – including those imposed by Mr Trump – and the Republican’s ripping up of a nuclear deal that have contributed in large part to the suffering of the Iranian people.
She also criticised the almost complete ban on Iranians entering the US since June 2025.
“We’re living in a really twisted moment,” she said. “Trump is saying to Iranians: ‘Keep protesting, take over your institutions.’
“But if they find themselves in danger, they can’t even find refuge in the United States.” AFP
