{"id":4106,"date":"2026-03-05T01:53:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/4106\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T01:53:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:53:45","slug":"boston-advocacy-groups-protest-u-s-military-action-in-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/4106\/","title":{"rendered":"Boston advocacy groups protest U.S. military action in Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

As fears for a wider regional war in the Middle East<\/a> grow, advocacy groups in Boston gathered to protest the United States\u2019 military action in Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The joint U.S.-Israel attack on Iran took place Saturday night<\/a>, targeting Iranian military infrastructure and government buildings and killing Iran\u2019s supreme leader<\/a>, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Since then, Iran and its proxy militias in Lebanon and Iraq have launched missiles<\/a> at Israel, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, and Cyprus.<\/p>\n

As of Wednesday, Iranian authorities<\/a> reported more than 780 casualties, including more than 150 school girls who were killed in a strike on a school located close to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base. It is unclear how many of the overall deaths include members of the IRGC. Israeli authorities report that 10 civilians were killed in Iranian attacks, and six U.S. military service members<\/a> were killed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As news of Khamenei\u2019s death spread, protests, both in support<\/a> and against <\/a>the military actions, erupted across the globe.<\/a><\/p>\n

On Monday night, dozens marched through Downtown Crossing waving the Islamic Republic regime\u2019s flag and holding signs condemning the U.S. operation, which has been dubbed\u00a0 Operation Epic Fury.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The anti-war rally<\/a> was organized by local advocacy groups, including the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), Palestinian Youth Movement, Boston Coalition for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, Massachusetts Peace Action, and several other organizations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was shocked and angry and sad,\u201d said Farnaz Mobayyen, an Iranian immigrant who has lived in Massachusetts for 25 years, in reference to Saturday\u2019s attacks. Mobayyen attended the protest with her husband and her two young sons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mobayyen said she has not been able to reach her uncles and aunt in Iran due to the full internet blackout<\/a> the regime put in place in early January, which cut off Iranians\u2019 phone calls and texts from anywhere outside of the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For months prior to the recent attack, more than a million<\/a> Iranian civilians protested in the streets of Iran against the regime\u2019s authoritarian rule. Under the blackout, which prevented documentation of many of the events happening in Iran, IRGC forces opened fire at the protesters and detained thousands. It is still unclear how many were killed in the anti-government protests, but estimates range from 6,000 to upwards of 30,000.<\/a><\/p>\n

At this time, President Donald Trump promised Iranian civilians<\/a> that \u201chelp is on its way,\u201d and for weeks, a potential American military action loomed over talks with Iranian officials regarding nuclear energy. Now, Trump urges <\/a>Iranians to return to the streets and take over their government.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mobayyen said she doesn\u2019t think the U.S. coordinated enough protection for the Iranian citizens when deciding to attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very concerned \u2026 It\u2019s my motherland. I know [ the U.S. government] is not worried about the democracy there,\u201d she said. \u201cThey just want to break up the land into pieces.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the military operation has also sparked celebration among Iranians across the globe<\/a>. In Boston<\/a>, hundreds from Iranian community organizations gathered at Copley Square<\/a> over the weekend, waving Iranian flags from before the 1979 revolution, alongside American and Israeli flags welcoming Trump\u2019s intervention.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kian, another Iranian immigrant in attendance at the anti-war protest, who declined to provide a last name for safety reasons, stood on a tall pile of snow holding out his sign as cars passed on Tremont Street. It read, \u201cDon\u2019t Iraq Iran.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kian immigrated to the U.S. when he was a teenager and became a citizen 47 years ago. He said he \u201cdoesn\u2019t forget\u201d his home country and that he will always have \u201cIranian blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody who\u2019s happy that their homeland is bombed, there\u2019s something mentally wrong with them,\u201d Kian said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A freshman Emerson College student, who wished to remain anonymous due to their international status, also joined the anti-war protest. He explained that the people from his country believe there\u2019s too many citizens unaware of \u201cAmerican imperialism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen what the U.S. does to the world \u2026 It\u2019s a hated country across the world because [it\u2019s] the number one manufacturer of death,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can no longer export death across the world because it\u2019s beginning to reflect inside [the country] with your ICE. Your level of extreme violence is reverting inwards.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He continued, saying that Emerson should do more to educate its students on the U.S.\u2019s actions toward foreign nations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Emerson cannot set an example to its own students, what does that say about the institution?\u201d he questioned. \u201cIt\u2019s rotten to the core \u2026 We must force our institutions to actually condemn these things.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joe Tache, a PSL member and candidate for the U.S. Senate, criticized any U.S. military action abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom Iraq to Afghanistan to Libya, whenever the U.S. military intervenes in another country, it does not improve the conditions of life for the people in that country, and it definitely doesn\u2019t improve safety and security here in the United States,\u201d he said in an interview with The Beacon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nancy Lessin, a co-founder of Military Families Speak Out, said she couldn\u2019t help but cry at the news this past Saturday morning, but ensured her organization would protest and act with similar force as they did when they first formed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe formed in 2002 to speak out to prevent the U.S. invasion of Iraq,\u201d she said. \u201cFast forward to Feb. 28, 2026, and we\u2019re seeing the same thing.\u201d <\/p>\n