More than 2,000 people rallied against Iran’s ruling regime on March 15 in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles during a demonstration organized by the Israeli-American Council in partnership with the local Iranian-American community.
Protesters gathered outside Woodland Hills Market along Ventura Boulevard, waving American, Israeli and pre-1979 Iranian flags while motorists passing by honked in support.
Many also carried signs reading “Make Iran Great Again,” “Down with the Islamic Republic” and “Our Voice Our Choice.” Another sign stated “Thank You for Your Support” alongside photos of U.S. President Donald Trump and senior administration officials. Several demonstrators unfurled a large banner with the green, white and red colors of the Iranian flag emblazoned with the words, “Regime Change in Iran.”
Speakers led chants in English and Farsi, including “Democracy for Iran” and “Regime Change for Iran.” During the rally, a cardboard effigy of Mojtaba Khamenei—the son of Iran’s supreme leader—was displayed onstage with a noose placed around its neck.
Tamar Nissim, Los Angeles regional director for the Israeli-American Council, told JNS the event reflected growing solidarity among diaspora communities.
“It’s absolutely amazing to show Israelis, Americans and Iranians here together, united for democracy, for human rights, to really care for each other and stick together,” said Nissim, who briefly spoke at the rally. “Everybody is united, fighting for the same thing, which is freedom.”
Arash Razi, one of the rally’s organizers who emigrated from Tehran 24 years ago, described life under the Islamic Republic as “very difficult,” citing restrictions on civil liberties and “basic human rights.”
“After 47 years, all Iranians have been waiting for this regime to fall and for democracy to return,” he said.
Another organizer, Shano Raissi, said demonstrators gathered to express support for Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last Shah of Iran and a leader of the opposition against the Islamic Republic, and to thank Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Raissi, a cardiovascular sonographer who left Iran 12 years ago, told JNS that she and her family emigrated after facing harassment from regime authorities.
“We don’t have freedom over there, and they arrest people for no reason and kill them,” Raissi said. “Recently, they killed more than 35,000 people, so we are here to protest against them, and we are happy that Khamenei is dead, and we don’t want his son to be the next leader.”
“We just wanted to ask King Pahlavi for transition, and then people can vote and decide who they want,” she told JNS.
Raissi also criticized Democratic politicians who have opposed U.S. involvement in the conflict, saying many Iranian Americans support the Trump administration’s actions. “Iranians like me love what he’s doing for us, and we really appreciate it,” she said.
Farzad Pashaei, a mechanical engineer who left Iran during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, said protesters were expressing gratitude to the U.S. president by showing up to the rally.
Addressing Trump, Pashaei said, “We appreciate what you do, not only for American people, not only for Iranian people, but for the world. The world will be safer without the Iranian Islamic Republic terrorist regime.”
