Los Angeles protesters decry U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran

Protests against the U.S.-Israeli military strikes on Iran — which have led to a widening war in the Middle East — were held Monday in dozens of cities nationwide. In downtown Los Angeles, about 150 people gathered in front of City Hall.

As the protest spilled into the right hand lanes of Spring Street, organizers handed out signs with slogans including “Stop the war on Iran,” and thanked people for coming to protest after work.

Speakers called the attack an illegal act of war that violated the sovereignty of Iran and its people in an effort to force regime change.

Iranians “are not able to control their own resources and their own future, and that’s not how it should be,” said Aida Ashouri, a candidate for L.A. city attorney. “Iranians deserve, just like we do, the right to choose their own leaders.”

The protests, happening Monday in about 40 cities nationwide, as ABC-7 reported, were organized by a loose coalition of about 30 groups. Activists said the attack on Iran could destabilize the Middle East and put Americans in danger. After the attacks, California military bases and others throughout the U.S. were stepping up security measures.

The coordinated U.S.-Israeli attacks over the weekend killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of other senior figures and kicked off a furious Iranian response.

On streets around the world over the weekend, there were protests in outrage or bursts of celebration. Demonstrations were held in cities including New York, Berlin, Paris and Vienna by members of the Iranian diaspora and their supporters, celebrating the end of Khamenei’s rule.

Greater Los Angeles is home to the largest concentration of people of Iranian descent outside Iran. Thousands of Iranian Americans demonstrated in Westwood over the weekend. The epicenter of L.A.’s Iranian diaspora is known as “Tehrangeles.” The gathering outside the Westwood Federal Building was an emotional celebration of the ayatollah’s death, and participants spoke of those killed in the Iranian regime’s recent crackdown on the country’s protesters.

President Trump said the military campaign could take several weeks or potentially “far longer.” Allies of the U.S. pledged to help stop Iran’s missile and drone strikes. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah claimed strikes on Israel for the first time in more than a year, and Israel fired back.

The first U.S. military deaths have been reported. Other deaths have been confirmed in Israel and Gulf nations, while Iran has said several hundred people have been killed there.

Associated Press contributed to this report.