Students opposed to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran were met by counter-protesters Monday as the two sides debated the recent intervention in the Middle Eastern country.
Over a dozen protesters from Students for Justice in Palestine at ASU, the Student Worker Alliance at ASU, the Phoenix branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Students and Faculty for Democratizing ASU gathered on Hayden Lawn with a banner demanding, "Stop the war on Iran" and signs with similar messaging.
A similarly sized group of counter-protesters gathered, including Iranian and Jewish community members, shouting at those opposed to the war and arguing in favor of the attack.
On Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israel launched military operations against Iran. Since then, the joint forces have killed the country's leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and bombed several military and government structures.
The protesters demonstrated against what they characterized as U.S. imperialism and a continuation of Israel's military actions in the region.
Kyah Antolos, a general officer of the SWA and a sophomore studying psychology, said the protest was part of a "national call" to demonstrate against U.S. involvement.
"U.S. intervention in Iran, or in any other country, is just going to lead to more violence and more bloodshed," Antolos said. "We want to obviously speak out against that."
SFDASU passed out flyers at the protest about how to oppose war on campus.
"SFDASU condemns America's airstrikes against Iran," the flyer stated. "We believe students and workers should build the largest possible coalition on campus to sever ASU's connections to the war machine."
The two sides chanted across from one another, with protesters at the center of the lawn and counter-protesters lining the sidewalk. At one point, a protester shouted into a megaphone feet away from a counter-protester who approached the group.
AmirDanial Azimi, the president of the Iranian Student Association and a doctoral student studying biological design, carried a flagpole with U.S. and pre-1979 Iranian flags. He said the current government of Iran is repressive and has sponsored terrorism across the Middle East.
"It's about time the U.S. finally supports the Iranian people," Azimi said.
READ MORE: Hundreds protest on the Tempe campus in solidarity with the Iranian people
He said he didn't think the students protesting the attack knew about the reported killing of the anti-government demonstrators in Iran, which disappointed him.
"Look, they (the protesters at ASU) are good people," Azimi said. "I feel like they're just not aware fully."
Iranians, some of whom were born in the U.S. and others who left Iran, wanted to counter-protest to call attention to the situation in the country and demonstrate that "we are here as well," Azimi said.
In a written statement, an Iranian international student studying systems engineering at ASU said the protesters did not know what was actually happening in Iran and had not adequately spoken with Iranian students. The student's name has been kept anonymous to avoid retribution against them or their family in Iran.
"Our families are under fire. Bombs are falling near our homes," the student said. "We are the ones with loved ones in danger — yet they were the ones chanting about something they clearly don't understand."
The student said the attack represents hope for Iranians to overthrow the current government, even with the risks war brings.
Among the counter-protesters was Zev Greenberg, a freshman studying finance who wore a Make America Great Again hat and an Israeli flag draped over his shoulders. He agreed that the war allows Iranians to rise up against their government.
Idan Gubeskys, a senior studying finance, said attending with Greenberg was an effort to "expose the hypocrisy" of organizing a protest about a war in a country without listening to that country's people.
"You can't do activism on behalf of somebody without even giving him a voice to let him know what he wants himself," Gubeskys said.
SJP, SWA, PSL Phoenix and SFDASU did not respond to requests for comment after the protest.
Edited by Kate Gore, Senna James, Emilio Alvarado, Sophia Braccio and Katrina Michalak.
Reach the reporter at coyer1@asu.edu and follow @carstenoyer on X.
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Carsten Oyer is the politics desk editor at The State Press. This is his third semester with The State Press, having previously worked as a politics reporter. He is studying journalism and mass communication and political science.
