NYC marchers celebrate killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, praise Trump, Netanyahu
Marchers in support of a U.S.-Israeli airstrike on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei take to the streets of Manhattan on Sunday. Credit: AP/Adam Gray
Supporters of the Iranian royal family from Long Island and across the metropolitan area marched in Manhattan on Sunday — many carrying Iranian, American and Israeli flags — to celebrate the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and to praise the U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign that killed him.
About 500 marchers, many of them Iranian Americans, called for a return of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, son of the Iranian shah deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Others offered their appreciation to U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Stony Brook University professor Ali Khosronejad, who carried his young daughter on his shoulders during the march, said he came from Port Jefferson "to thank Trump and Bibi Netanyahu for what they did for Persians."
Khosronejad, who has lived in the United States for more than 15 years, added: "It’s been so difficult for people inside Iran. Our family, friends, relatives are asking for help — they’re struck with a murderous regime that just kills them in cold blood."
Tens of thousands of people may have been killed in a January-February crackdown in Iran on demonstrators rallying against the government, activists and human rights groups have said.
Saturday's joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran killed Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials. More than 200 people had been killed since the start of the strikes as of late Sunday, according to Iranian leaders. On Saturday, protesters gathered in Manhattan to decry the attack.
Sunday's march began outside the United Nations and made its way through Manhattan streets before ending in Times Square. NYPD officers kept watch, and no incidents or disruptions were reported.
Participants shouted "azadi" (Farsi for "freedom"), "USA USA USA," and "President Trump Thank You." Some carried banners declaring "Make Iran Great Again."
Upon reaching Times Square, many sang Iran’s old national anthem and listened to speeches praising the United States and denigrating the United Nations. Neither the United States nor Israel sought U.N. permission for the strike.
"Thank you Trump, thank you Marco Rubio!" Iraj Javid, a march leader from New Jersey, shouted with joy.
The march was organized by "Lion and Sun NY," a group whose name references the symbols on the old, Shah-era Iranian flag, and whose Instagram handle says it is “A movement for a free Iran, rooted in the legacy of the Lion & Sun and led by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.”
Marchers held photographs of Pahlavi, who lives in exile in Maryland and whom they hope will return to Iran. Pahlavi is the son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran who centralized power and violently suppressed dissent after a U.S.- and British-backed 1953 coup ousted a democratically elected government that tried to nationalize the oil industry.
It is not clear how widely the prince is supported within Iran, where protests earlier this year centered around skyrocketing inflation, corruption and political suppression.
Javid told Newsday many marchers came from New Jersey’s large Iranian American community, though some also came from Long Island, where many Iranian Jews have settled.
Javid said he is hoping for a constitutional monarchy "similar to Scandinavia," with an elected head of state, though others in the crowd hope Reza Pahlavi can be more than a figurehead.
"We want Reza to return as the president of the country. We want him to take over — he’s going to do great for the country," said Yoni Taberi, of New Jersey, who described himself as a Persian Jew.
Golby Sai, of Connecticut, held a sign that read "Trump's Iran War [not equal to] Iraq or Afghanistan."
Sai said she is a registered Republican who disagrees with Trump on many issues, but supports the current war.
"It's not like the USA is going to put troops on the ground and try and create some type of liberal democracy for which there is no institutions and no culture," she said. "All the people needed was for the top echelons of the country to be bombed so that when they go out into the streets, nobody shoots them."
With AP
'You have neurologic effects, you have hematological or blood effects' Lead-contaminated drinking water was found in nearly 3,000 water fixtures in Long Island schools. NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger reports.
'You have neurologic effects, you have hematological or blood effects' Lead-contaminated drinking water was found in nearly 3,000 water fixtures in Long Island schools. NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger reports.
