Those protests continued on Monday. What was described by organizers as an \u201cemergency protest\u201d drew a mix of support, criticism and concern about the future of Iran \u2013 and Arizona. The Student Worker Organization, Party for Socialism and Liberation and Students for Justice in Palestine organized the protest. They called for \u201cno war in Iran and to stop the bombings.\u201d<\/p>\n
The protesters stood on Hayden Lawn on Arizona State University\u2019s Tempe campus. They carried signs reading \u201cNO NEW US WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST\u201d and \u201cSTOP THE WAR ON IRAN,\u201d while others carried bullhorns and read rhyming chants. Some passing students and faculty stopped to listen.<\/p>\n
Mike Imbis, a freshman studying philosophy, stopped to talk about the larger impacts of the new conflict.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I think it’s just another war that we’re starting just on behalf of Israel,\u201d Imbis said. \u201cI don’t think it’s really much to do with the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was one of a number of people across the state worried about how the conflict could affect the price of gas and what it might mean for the stock market and the economy at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think oil prices are definitely gonna go up a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cThe stock market’s definitely gonna go down a lot,\u201d Imbis said. \u201cI think, if anything, it’ll end up like another Afghanistan or Iraq, where we’re there for a long period of time and install a puppet government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Counterprotesters nearby held American, Israeli and Lion and Sun flags. Iran used the Lion and Sun flag before the Islamic Revolution of 1979.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0X5A7835-1024x683.jpg\")
An Israeli student and an Iranian man greet one another at a counter protest opposite a protest against the war in Iran at Arizona State University’s Tempe campus on March 2, 2026. (Photo by Hailey Leonard\/Cronkite News)<\/p>\n
Amir Danial Azimi, a board member of the Iranian Students and Scholars Association at ASU, stood nearby and waved a pole with both the American and Lion and Sun flags. He also protested against the Iranian government in January 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cIran currently is a terrorist government. So it has killed over 40,000 of its own people,\u201d Azimi said. \u201cThat’s why there are so many Iranians here, because we escaped that country, that terrorist regime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Azimi didn\u2019t expect what was unfolding in Iran to happen in his lifetime.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIran has been bullying the Middle East and essentially the entire world for 47 years.\u201d Azimi explained. \u201cIt’s finally time that the United States is putting its foot down and saying, \u2018No, we will not have a terrorist regime bully other countries.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Idan Gubeskys, a senior studying finance, said the operations to be beneficial for the people of Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully the positive impact of it would be that the Iranian nation is finally free from this oppressive regime that kills women for not covering their hair, kills homosexuals,\u201d Gubeskys said. \u201cBasically imposes the radical version of theocracy upon the populace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gubeskys moved to the United States from Israel 10 years ago. He worries about his grandparents, who still live there. They move to a bomb shelter several times a day, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Others said the strikes are a distraction, driving attention away from other issues. Deshayne Curley, a sophomore studying cyber security, thinks the conflict is designed to distract from the release of the Epstein files.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like we were very close to class consciousness. And now all of a sudden, you know, this happens again, and everyone is divided again,\u201d Curley said. \u201cWe’re back to square one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arizona representatives have split in their reaction to the strikes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Republican Rep. Abraham Hamadeh said \u201cAmerica First does not mean American Alone\u201d in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies against the suicidal regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran,\u201d the statement continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari, a daughter of Iranian migrants who fled the Islamic Republic, said in a statement<\/a> that she has \u201cno sympathy for regime officials or the military apparatus,\u201d and calls the Islamic Republic \u201ca brutal, corrupt regime that has murdered and imprisoned its own people for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n Ansari said she doesn\u2019t agree with how the strikes were carried out and believes\u00a0 it\u2019s unconstitutional.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI am deeply concerned by President Trump\u2019s decision to launch an illegal, dangerous war without Congressional authorization,\u201d Ansari said in a statement.<\/p>\n Sen. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, both Democrats, also condemned the airstrikes. Both senators are combat veterans.\u00a0 Kelly flew combat missions during Desert Storm, and Gallego served as an infantryman in the Iraq War.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both senators released statements expressing dismay with Trump\u2019s actions for contradicting his promise for no new wars.\u00a0<\/p>\n The dispute was not just between rival politicians. There was a feud playing out from beyond the grave at Turning Point USA, headquartered in Phoenix.\u00a0<\/p>\n Three months before he was assassinated, Charlie Kirk posted a poll on X with nearly 90% of respondents<\/a> opposed to U.S. involvement in Israel\u2019s war with Iran. A week before, he posted a comment on Nikki Haley\u2019s X account that was adamantly against U.S. military actions in Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRegime change in Iran would be a catastrophe,\u201d he wrote.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Posters](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Charlie-Funeral_LOVAN_20250922_19.jpg\")
Posters lie on chairs at the Charlie Kirk memorial at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on Sept. 21, 2025. Attendees were not allowed to bring items into the stadium. (Photo by Sydney Lovan\/Cronkite News)<\/p>\n