Drum beats, music and chants drowned out the typical city sounds in Uptown Houston on Sunday afternoon as more than 1,000 demonstrators, many of whom were Iranian-Americans, celebrated after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The demonstration, at the corner of Post Oak Boulevard and Westheimer Road, came one day after the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran. One of the strikes killed Khamenei, 86, who had ruled as the supreme leader of Iran for 36 years and was a key figure in the Iranian Revolution of the late 1970s.
Roja Kiani was among those participating in the demonstration. She said her family had fled Iran following the revolution and that she hopes Khamenei’s death represents the beginning of a new age for the Iranian people.
“We’re here celebrating Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu being able to go in and basically perform a rescue mission on the brave people of Iran,” Kiani said, referring to the U.S. president and Israeli prime minister. “The Islamic regime for 47 years has done nothing but fund terrorism all across the world.”
Kiani said that when she was a child, she and her parents sneaked across the Iranian border into Pakistan because they were Baháʼí — a religious minority in Iran that has faced oppression from the government.
“I’ve never been able to enjoy the birthplace of myself and my parents because of the Islamic regime,” she said. “I’ve never been able to go there and see where my parents were born, where I was born, where my grandparents were, because of the Islamic regime. And I’m hoping one day I will be able to go back to [a] free Iran.”
Hannah Haghighi, an Iranian-American, said her parents were also Baháʼí and fled Iran before she was born. Like many of the other demonstrators, Haghighi was holding an Iranian Lion and Sun flag — a flag used by the country before the revolution that has since been adopted by many who oppose the current Iranian government.
“I was born in America, but my parents did come here to America to give me, and themselves, a better life because over there they didn’t have freedom of speech,” she said. “I did go when I was 7 years old, but I didn’t feel as safe as I wanted to. I had a lot of fun, but I do want to go back there one day and be able to not wear a hijab and be able to dress how I want to.”
Kyle McClenagan/HPM
The demonstration was organized by Free Iran Houston. Houston resident Dr. Nooshin Motahari was one of the event organizers and said the Houston demonstration was one of hundreds being held around the world to voice support for regime change in Iran.
“This feels like an answer to our prayers of 47 years,” she said. “A nation [where] 80 million people are in chains under this regime. … Finally, [the] world is listening. [The] world is saying what we’ve been crying for the past 47 years: that there is no peace, no negotiation with the Islamic regime, with this terrorist ideology.”
Early Sunday morning, a gunman killed two people and wounded 14 others at a bar in Austin. While the motives of the suspected gunman — who was shot and killed by Austin police — were not fully known as of Sunday evening, the Associated Press reported the man was wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and words that said “Property of Allah.”
Motahari said she believed the ideology of the Iranian government played a role in the shooting in Austin.
“So no one is safe,” she said. “This is a bipartisan issue. No matter if you are right or left, you are affected. Your children are affected.”
As the demonstration in Houston continued, news broke that three American soldiers had been killed in the conflict with Iran, with at least five more being seriously wounded. According to NPR, President Donald Trump said on social media that “there will likely be more before it ends.”
Motahari said she would support sending American troops on the ground if necessary to enact regime change in Iran, but said the people there may be able to do it themselves with American support.
“We necessarily might not even need boots on the ground,” she said. “The people of Iran are boots on the ground. … If we support Iranians inside Iran and listen to what they’re chanting, listen to what they want. They want regime change, and they’ve been chanting for Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.”
Pahlavi is the exiled prince of Iran and has been a spokesperson against the current Iranian government for decades, according to Al Jazeera. Motahari said Pahlavi should be part of a regime change and the U.S. and its allies should not install any current members of the Iranian military or government as the country’s new leaders.
Kyle McClenagan/HPM
Throughout the demonstration in Houston, participants waved Iranian Lion and Sun flags alongside American and Israeli flags as they chanted “U.S.A, U.S.A” and “long live Trump.”
The strikes on Saturday by the U.S. and Israel have drawn praise by some world leaders but criticism by others. There also has been opposition more locally.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat, told NPR on Saturday that while Khamenei was a sponsor of terrorism, Trump should not be conducting military operations without congressional approval. Jeffries and other Democrats have also voiced concern about whether the U.S. can help secure a stable regime in Iran.
RELATED: House shelves Houston Congressman Al Green’s effort to impeach Trump over Iran strikes
U.S. Reps. Lizzie Fletcher and Al Green, both Houston-area Democrats, criticized Trump for not seeking prior authorization from Congress. So did leadership for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which includes U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, another Houston Democrat. In a joint statement, the caucus leadership called it a “reckless escalation that risks dragging the United States and our allies into another endless war while putting innocent lives in danger.”
State Rep. Suleman Lalani, a Fort Bend County Democrat who in 2022 became one of the first Muslims elected to the Texas Legislature, also criticized the attack on Iran.
“We cannot keep writing blank checks for violence abroad, including enabling the Israeli government’s continued actions that have inflamed the region and deepened the humanitarian catastrophe, especially for Palestinians in Gaza,” Lalani said in a statement. “Peace and security will never come from collective punishment, endless siege, or treating civilian suffering as acceptable collateral.
“As Muslims observe Ramadan, a month of mercy and reflection, my prayers are with every family living in fear, and with our troops who may be placed in harm’s way,” Lalani added. “We need de escalation, diplomacy, and accountability.”
Kiani, the Iranian-American who demonstrated in Houston, said those on the political left were focused too much on being “anti-war” and not enough on the Iranians who have been killed during protests in the country.
“They talk about ‘no wars,’ but I just want to reiterate the fact that this is not a war on Iran, this is a rescue mission for the people of Iran,” she said. “If you can look, you will see that everyone in Iran is actually very happy about this. They’ve been waiting for this for so long, 47 years, and they finally got it.”
Great Job & the Team @ Houston Public Media for sharing this story.
