Thousands rally in Westwood as U.S.-Iran war escalates, calling for a ‘free Iran’

Thousands gathered outside the Westwood Federal Building on Sunday afternoon celebrating the fall of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dreaming of a “free Iran” as war continued to escalate between Iran and a united U.S. and Israel.

Residents of Los Angeles’ massive Persian diaspora continued to revel in the news of Khamenei’s death after the U.S. and Israel launched surprise attacks across the nation Saturday. Many at Sunday’s demonstration were draped in American, Israeli or Iranian flags, the latter emblazoned with a golden lion that represented the traditional banner abandoned when the Islamic Republic came to power. Some wore green hats that said, “Make Iran Great Again.”

Members of the crowd chanted for a “free Iran” and danced in closed off streets.

“We’re thrilled,” said demonstrator Shawn Araghi, who left Iran as an 8-year-old when Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was ousted in 1979. “Most people think Iranians are the same as the regime. The people are way different than the regime. They could care less about the people. That’s why they’re killing them left and right.”

On Sunday, military officials confirmed that three U.S. service members were killed and five seriously wounded in a widening war across the Middle East, with intensifying counterattacks by Iran across the region. Hundreds in Iran, including dozens of civilians at a school, were reported dead in the attacks, and dozens more across the region.

But for many in and around Westwood — the epicenter of L.A.’s sprawling Iranian diaspora, earning the nickname “Tehrangeles” — the attacks on Iran signaled hope for a regime change that could bring increased freedom to their homeland.

The Greater Los Angeles area is home to the largest concentration of people of Iranian descent outside Iran. Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, it has served as a capital for exiles.

Nilgoon Askari, a native of Iran, was in attendance at Sunday’s demonstration. She said Iranian Americans had gathered in West Los Angeles or downtown L.A. every weekend in February since Iranian security forces used lethal force to suppress a widespread popular uprising.

Askari said her best friend was killed in the crackdown on protesters and some of her relatives were arrested. The demonstrations in L.A. were often tearful affairs, she said. Sunday was different.

“It was impossible for 47 years,” Askari said of the killing of Iran’s supreme leader. She said President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had assassinated a “dictator” whom the Iranian people could not depose themselves.

Askari and Araghi said they hoped the Islamic Republic would fall and the country will come under the leadership of Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah.

Araghi said he wasn’t concerned that Israel or the United States would meddle in the future of Iran. “Anything is better than the current regime,” he said. “It can’t be worse than this.”

Times staff writers Corinne Purtill and Grace Toohey contributed to this report.