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Hundreds of New Yorkers, including Iranian Americans, protest US strikes
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Mar 1, 2026
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Leonardo MUNOZ / AFP via Getty Images
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Mar 1, 2026
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Hundreds of New Yorkers, including members of the city’s Iranian community, marched through Midtown on Saturday afternoon as part of a National Day of Action to protest the United States and Israel’s joint strikes on Iran.
The United States and Israel bombed cities across Iran, including the capital Tehran, on Saturday morning as part of an attack the Pentagon has called "Operation Epic Fury.” In a video posted to social media early Saturday morning, President Donald Trump said the goal of the operation was "to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.” The attacks have so far killed at least 200 people and injured over 700 others, according to Iranian officials, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A coalition of antiwar, socialist and pro-Palestinian groups organized by the People’s Forum and the ANSWER Coalition marched from Times Square to Columbus Circle on Saturday, chanting in unison and carrying Iranian and Palestinian flags. Among them was Masooma Zaidi, 20, who said she came out because she opposes oppression and supports world peace. Zaidi also has a personal connection to Iran.
“So my family has come from Iran, then Pakistan,” she said. “But even if I didn’t, I would still come out and raise my voice for Iran because it’s just right, it’s the right thing to do.”
Zaidi said her family members who are still in Iran are OK, but also expressed worry for the Iranian people and the Middle East in general.
“This has got to end, what the U.S. is doing and what Israel is doing,” Zaidi said. “They need to take their hands off the Middle East.”
Signs from Saturday's protest.
Arya Sundaram/Gothamist
Etan Mabourakh, one of the speakers at Saturday’s protest, is the organizing manager for the National Iranian American Council. He said Iranians desperately want change and freedom, but also self-determination.
“ I can't emphasize enough that I think Iran's future will be decided by the 90 million Iranians there,” Mabourakh said. “And the United States, in all of our adventures in the Middle East, we've failed to bring freedom and democracy through wars.”
Mabourakh is also a member of the Iranian Jewish community. He said his family migrated to Israel after the 1979 revolution.
“Also as a Jewish person here, with my family in Israel, I'm scared that they will be caught in this, too,” he added.
Mabourakh said he’s spoken with several other Iranian Americans who are scared for their family members in Iran. He said a volunteer in his organization had told him that his mother’s apartment building had been bombed in Saturday’s attack.
“ People were horrified by the news of war breaking out,” Mabourakh added. “People are scrambling first and foremost to check on their loved ones. Much of the internet is restricted. Otherwise, people are glued to the news.”
Gabriela Silva, a 34-year-old volunteer with the ANSWER Coalition, said she wanted to see the money the United States spends on military actions invested in other pursuits, and questioned the United States’ justifications for its military interventions.
“ We're also here to say the United States has no right to claim to, you know, be fighting for democracy, human rights, and against nuclear threats when the United States currently has over 5,000 nuclear weapons, when the United States has over 800 military bases in the world,” she said. “If there's any country, any force in the world that is really posing a threat to the peoples of the world, it's the United States.”
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Arya Sundaram
Arya is a reporter covering race and justice. Got a tip? Email: [email protected] or reach Arya on Signal at 512-650-8767.
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