Census bureau data show San Diego County is home to more than 12,000 immigrants from Iran. Monday, members of the local Iranian community said news of the death of Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in last weekend's U.S.-Israeli strikes brought them great joy.
“This level of joy and happiness the Iranian diaspora, we, are feeling is crazy, is insane,” said 23-year-old Ainaz Estiri. “This weekend it was a very emotional day. We were dancing, we were cheering, we were crying from happiness.”
Since early January, Estiri has been protesting every week at the intersection of Genesee and Balboa Avenues in Clairemont with the organization “Alliance with Pahlavi.”
She said the Iranian government is brutal toward its citizens and has created a human rights crisis.
According to one human rights agency, at least 7,000 people have been killed since January in a crushing government response to public protest. The Iranian Red Crescent Society said at least 555 Iranians have been killed since the beginning of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Saturday.
“Of course we don't want anyone who is innocent to die in this situation. But right now if we don't get rid of this regime, they will kill thousands more,” Estiri said.
That worry is echoed by 75-year-old Shahram Homayounfar. He’s been helping to organize weekly protests against Iran’s leadership outside the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego.
“We still believe that part of the regime is still there that haven't fallen yet. And we do believe the Iranian people have to step up, they finish the job, they bring the change by themselves,” Homayounfar said. “Because if they don't do anything and wait for others to do the job, it might not be what they're looking for.”
Homayounfar also said his group is not really pro-war. “But at the same time we could recognize that the policies and the way the Iranian government has been behaving the past 47 years, to me they brought this war on themselves," he said, referring to the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, putting religious leaders in control of the country.
Though Khamenei is now gone, Homayounfar said what comes next is just as important.
“We are glad those people have been killed but where it’s going, it's concerning. We want to make sure at the end the people of Iran get the democracy and freedom they deserve,” he said.
Both Homayounfar and Estiri said they plan to keep their protests going, and increase action as needed.
