Demonstrations took place across the United States following the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, with participants calling for an immediate end to the war that threatens to spiral out of control in the Middle East.
Joint military strikes launched by the U.S. and Israel on Iran on Saturday morning have triggered a sharp escalation across the Middle East in recent days, setting off waves of missile exchanges, mounting casualties, and far-reaching political and security repercussions.
Meanwhile, a U.S.-Israeli attack on a girls' elementary school in the southern Iranian city of Minab which killed at least 165 children and staff on Saturday has caused considerable outrage.
The deepening crisis has sparked demonstrations in several U.S. cities, with many expressing their concerns over the consequences of yet another U.S. military intervention in the Middle East.
In Manhattan, New York City, protesters carried anti-war signs reading "Hands Off Iran" and "Stop the War On Iran," urging the Trump administration to immediately cease all military operations against Iran.
Among them was Mohammad Esmaeil Khodami, a 26-year-old Iranian who strongly condemned the attacks launched by the U.S. and Israel. He even suggested the operation is designed to divert attention away from other issues and questions currently facing the Trump administration.
"The bombing in this war is a war for Israel. It's a war because, frankly, I believe it's also a war to cover up the crimes of the Trump administration, right? It's a play, it's a ploy for distraction. It's a move to try to garner popularity and to try to gain that like wartime sensational popularity. It has nothing to do with liberating Iranian people. They don't care about Iranian people at all. They would sooner see us all dead than come forward about the crimes that they've committed," he said.
On Monday evening, dozens of protesters gathered outside the White House in Washington, D.C., to rally against the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, with demonstrators urging the Trump administration not to enter into another prolonged war in the Middle East.
Many chanted slogans and held aloft signs urging politicians to remember the difficult history of U.S. interventions in the Middle East, with many saying the current situation draws unwanted parallels to the disastrous U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
"The United States government is starting another war, just like they have done in the past in Iraq, in Syria, in Libya, in Lebanon and so on. And every area that they have started and they left, they left it in civil wars, and separating and literally doing nothing but making the people in different groups fight with one another. So wars never bring any peace. They don't bring justice. Justice is when you sit on a table as a mediator and you reach agreements," said Sam, a protester.
Meanwhile, protesters in Los Angeles raised banners and chanted slogans, calling on the U.S. government to cease military intervention in Iran's internal affairs.
They urged the U.S. government to focus more on the needs and demands of the American people instead of allocating funds to meaningless overseas wars. "I want the U.S. to stop bombing Iran. Hands off Iran. Stop interfering with the politics of Iran. Stop sanctioning the people of Iran. So much money on killing people abroad. We are seeing people suffering from ICE raids here in the United States, suffering from high rents, the lack of housing, lack of social services that are being cut. People need to be supported right here. The people of Iran are not America's enemy. What people need is their government and taxpayer dollars to be spent on services for themselves and not on more death and war," said another protester.
Demonstrations take place across US after US-Israeli strikes on Iran
