Bay Area residents congregated at Embarcadero Plaza yesterday evening as part of an emergency rally to protest the United States and Israel’s bombing of Iran.

On Feb. 28, a joint attack operation by Israel and the United States struck Tehran, killing the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Since Khamenei’s assassination, Israel and the United States have continued to exchange attacks with Iran, resulting in hundreds of casualties. Bay Area organizations assembled to speak out for an end to the war.

The emergency rally was organized by several Bay Area grassroots organizations, including the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the “Act Now to Stop War and End Racism” coalition, better known as ANSWER.

ANSWER organizer Noah Roberts spoke on the importance of Iranian self-determination while emphasizing the hypocrisy of President Donald Trump’s domestic policy.

“Donald Trump has said [the attacks] were about human rights, but that was a total lie, and it’s completely farcical,” Roberts said. “We see what the Trump administration is doing here in the United States in terms of the murder of Alex Pretti, the murder of Renee Good, and the kidnapping of thousands of other immigrants. We think that Iran belongs to the Iranians, and they should be the ones determining the future of that country. It shouldn’t be U.S. bombs doing so.”

Layla Degani, an Iranian-American PSL organizer, said that America’s intervention in the Middle East is creating a downward trajectory for the future of the entire region.

“I think that American meddling has a long history in my home country and in my heritage,” Degani said. “I personally, as do many people who are from the Middle East, understand very acutely how American meddling has impacted their countries. Forcing their histories onto a trajectory that they might not have been on otherwise has caused a lot of damage historically.”

Isabel Parrado, president of the La Raza Student Organization at San Francisco State University, shared a sentiment similar to Degani’s: America’s track record of involvement in foreign affairs has been detrimental.

“I think history is our best teacher, and we can see that every time the United States comes in somewhere and says they’re going to liberate people, it never happens,” Parrado said. “I can think about my Latin American history. The U.S. always has an interest in mind, always wants to spread its empire and reap the resources. The resources and the oil [in Iran] are still plentiful, even though we’ve been draining them for so long.”

Not everyone feels the same. Aida Mirzaei, the vice president of SFSU’s Iranian Student Association, disagrees with the claim that American intervention would negatively affect the country.

“One thing is that Iran is not Syria, it’s not Iraq, it’s not Yemen. The reason why these countries are in shambles today is that the Islamic Republic is funding these proxies like the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah,” Mizraei said. “Japan, France and Germany were all liberated by U.S. intervention. There was no way they could do that by themselves. When you have a dictator ruling over you, there isn’t much you can do.”

Iranian-Americans took to the streets in Los Angeles, the city with the largest Iranian population outside of Iran, celebrating the death of Khamenei with dance and cheers.

Parrado relates to the Iranian diaspora, but says that celebrations should be paused when others are experiencing the violence of the war.

“I’m a member of the Latino diaspora, and I would go back and visit my family in Mexico and Bolivia when I could. It’s very different going back to the home country, and you’re there for a short time, you don’t get the full experience,” Parrado said. “I’m not going to tell someone in the Iranian diaspora that their feelings aren’t valid, but I don’t think I can see the bombing of a school and even think about celebrating.”

Ramsey Robinson, California gubernatorial candidate of the Peace and Freedom Party, said that America’s motivations in the region aren’t of moral founding, but instead financial opportunities for the nation’s wealthiest.

“There are 194 billionaires right here in California that are hoarding $1.2 trillion of our wealth while half of us live paycheck to paycheck,” Robinson said. “We know it’s the same billionaires who are making money off of this war in Iran and trying to get their resources. They lied to us about Vietnam, Iraq, Venezuela, and we know we have more in common with the people of Iran than the billionaires that are trying to make us think that this war is going to benefit us in some way.”

While for the killing of Khamenei, Mizraei believes humanitarian freedom for Iranians isn’t the sole interest of either the American or Israeli government. Regardless, she thinks intervention was necessary.

“I’m not telling anybody to like either the U.S. or Israeli governments. It is important to keep in mind who they are dealing with here. The Islamic Republic is a killing machine; they killed more than 30,000 protesters earlier this year,” Mizraei said. “There is no doubt that any outside intervention is probably looking for something to gain. They aren’t attacking the Islamic Republic for its kebab recipe. They want something out of it, but it just happens to align with what the Iranian people want.”

Mizraei’s claim of 30,000 deaths in January’s protests is heavily disputed, with U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reporting 7,000 deaths. Time magazine pushes that number closer to 30,000 while Iranian state media claims the figure is roughly 3,000.

Roberts stressed that previous American involvement in the country didn’t serve Iran well, saying the economic strain Iranians are struggling with is manufactured by America.

“An economy runs on oil, and when you grind it to a halt with sanctions, people starve and die. It’s specifically designed for strangulation,” Roberts said. “People become so desperate that they conclude they should overthrow their government. A US-sponsored coup in 1953 overthrew the democratically elected leader who nationalized oil in favor of a monarch. The people calling for the reinstatement of this monarchy are the same people who are calling for the bombs and in favor of Zionism.”