Thousands gathered outside the Westwood Federal Building on Sunday afternoon to celebrate the fall of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dream of a “free Iran” as war continues to escalate between Iran and the US-allied US and Israel.
Residents of Los Angeles continued to rejoice over the news of Khamenei’s death after the US and Israel launched a surprise attack across the country on Saturday. Many at Sunday’s parade were decorated with American, Israeli or Iranian flags, the latter adorned with a golden lion representing the traditional banner left behind when the Islamic Republic came to power. Others wore blue hats that read, “Make Iran Great Again.”
Members of the crowd chanted “free Iran” and danced in the blocked streets.
Thousands of protesters rallied outside the Westwood Federal Building on Sunday
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
“We are very happy,” said protester Shawn Araghi, who left Iran at age 8 when Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was ousted in 1979. “Many people think that the Iranian people are the same as the regime. The people are very different from the regime.
On Sunday, military officials confirmed that three members of the US military were killed and five were seriously wounded in the escalating war in the Middle East, with Iran’s strong offensive across the region. Hundreds of Iranians, including dozens of civilians at the school, were reported killed in the attack, along with scores of others across the region.
But for many in and around Westwood — the epicenter of LA’s sprawling Iranian diaspora, earning the nickname “Tehrangeles” — the attack on Iran has signaled hope for regime change that could bring more freedom to their country.
The Greater Los Angeles area is home to many people of Iranian descent outside of Iran. Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, it has served as the capital of exiles.
Nilgoon Askari, a native of Iran, attended Sunday’s demonstration. He said Iranian-Americans gathered in West Los Angeles or downtown LA every weekend in February as Iranian security forces used deadly force to quell the widespread uprising.
Askari said his best friend was killed in an attack on protesters and some of his relatives were arrested. The protests in LA used to be tearful stories, she said. Sunday was different.
“It was impossible for 47 years,” Askari said of the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader. He said President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu killed a “tyrant” that the Iranian people could not get rid of.
Askari and Araghi said they hoped the Islamic Republic would fall and the country would come under the leadership of Reza Pahlavi, the shah’s son.
Araghi said he does not care if Israel or the United States will interfere in Iran’s future. “Anything is better than the current regime,” he said. “It can’t get any worse than this.”
Times staff writers Corinne Purtill and Grace Toohey contributed to this report.
