Fatemeh Shams watched anxiously as her native Iran came under military attack by the US and Israel over the weekend.
Having lived in the United States since 2009, Shams is among Iranian-American exiles who have long opposed Tehran’s regime from abroad. She said she does not mourn the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Saturday’s bombing.
“We all have very mixed feelings about what’s happening,” said Shams, who is based in Philadelphia, in an interview with the BBC. “On one hand, we are relieved that our oppressors… are no longer alive. The fact that [Khamenei] was killed in an instant, after 38 years of corruption and crime, makes it feel like the justice we’ve been fighting for finally arrived—though not by our hand.”
Shams is not alone in grappling with conflicted emotions. While some in the Iranian diaspora voiced concern over the growing death toll and the potential length of the conflict, others took to the streets across the US to mark Khamenei’s death.
In Los Angeles, often nicknamed “Tehrangeles” for its large Iranian population of over 130,000, police temporarily closed streets outside a federal building on Sunday to accommodate celebratory gatherings. Similar demonstrations were reported in Boston, Washington DC, and other cities with significant Iranian communities.
In Los Angeles, Iranian-American demonstrators waved flags as a plane circled overhead, trailing a banner reading, “THANK U TRUMP.”
Hoda Zeaighamnia danced in the streets with her three children, one of whom was only days old when the family fled Iran.
Her daughter, Donya Cheshmaghil, told the BBC, “I was born in Iran. My family had to leave because we’re not Muslim, and the regime is very oppressive toward anyone who isn’t. We’re hoping this leads to regime change. We’re very grateful to the US for finally intervening. This is what the people in Iran have been asking for.”
Her sister, Mona Cheshmaghil, added: “I’m sorry it took so many lives for this to happen, but right now we’re just happy to have the chance to go back and see where we came from. We never thought this would be possible.”
However, reactions were not uniform. A day earlier outside LA City Hall, hundreds gathered to protest the military action. Actress Jane Fonda, 88, a long-time anti-war activist, addressed the crowd: “You may wage this war in our name, but not with our consent.”
Across the US, both supporters and opponents of the strikes made their voices heard. In Atlanta, Georgia, Sherry Yadegari described the action as the “Iran Rescue Operation” rather than a war.
Meanwhile, in New York, activist Layan Fuleihan criticized the intervention, telling AFP: “Bombing people does not help them free themselves. If Trump truly cared about democracy or the well-being of Iranians, he would lift the brutal sanctions that make it impossible for ordinary people to afford food and basic necessities.”
Divisions were also evident among US lawmakers of Iranian heritage.
Congresswoman Stephanie Bice, an Oklahoma Republican with a half-Iranian father, wrote on X: “Now is the time for Iranians to stand up and take back their nation and bring lasting peace to the Middle East.”
By contrast, Arizona Democrat Yassamin Ansari, whose parents fled Iran during the 1979 revolution, expressed caution. She said in a statement that while she supports a free Iran, she does not want the US drawn into “another endless war in the Middle East.”
Meanwhile, on the streets, many Iranian-Americans chose to focus on the immediate moment: the fall of an ayatollah whose regime had violently suppressed widespread protests this year.
“This is a great day,” said Meraa Tcheshmaghio at a Sunday demonstration in Los Angeles. “Our country has been waiting for this for a while. It’s beautiful. It really is.”