Sima Shakhsari stood in front of City Hall in downtown Minneapolis on Thursday addressing a crowd that had gathered carrying signs that read: “No U.S. War on Iran.” Before coming to the protest, Shakhsari had finally heard from their niece in northern Iran after a WhatsApp blockage had hampered communication for days.
“She finally texted me and said she’s OK,” Shakhsari said.
Shakhsari, who is an associate professor of gender, women and sexuality studies at the University of Minnesota, a member of Educators for Justice in Palestine, and a co-founder of No Sanctions Against Iran, was born in Tehran and came to the United States shortly after the eight-year war between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s.
“As someone who has lived through war, I don’t want that life for my nieces and their children,” they said.
Led by Shakhsari and others in a van, the crowd walked a few blocks, chanting for peace.
Katayoun Amjadi, an Iran-born artist, curator and educator who settled in Minnesota after initially leaving the United States amid widespread anti-foreigner sentiment after 9/11, was among the marchers. Amjadi said that since hearing about Israel’s initial June 12 attack on Iran, “it has been a complete blur.”
“I can do one thing a day, and coming to this protest was what I could do today,” Amjadi said.
She has been unable to reach her family in Iran and has been relying on updates from other Iranian Americans in Minnesota who also have family there.
But despite their anxiety and worry, Israel’s attack on Iran did not come as a surprise to Amjadi, Shakhsari and many other Iranian Americans in Minnesota.
On June 12, Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion” on Iran as a preemptive attack, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring its goal: “to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.” The attacks came unprovoked amid negotiations between Iran and Israel’s principal ally, the United States, over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Israel and Iran have attacked each other throughout the past year, but the most recent exchanges are a major escalation. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 639 people and injured 1,329, according to human rights groups quoted in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, with Israel reporting 24 deaths.
After delivering a series of mixed and confusing messages, President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will decide in two weeks whether the United States might get involved.
Maryam Yusefzadeh, a Persian musician and guest lecturer at the Minnesota Historical Society, the Walker Art Center, the Minnesota Orchestra and Macalester College, was born and brought up in Tehran. She remembers her life there with gratitude and nostalgia. “It was a beautiful life,” she said. “My family was close, everybody got together, we laughed.”
When Yusefzadeh heard about the attacks, “the only thing I could think of was my family in the middle of Tehran.”
Yusefzadeh, like many in Minnesota’s Iranian community, opposes U.S. or other foreign intervention in Iran. “This is bigger than politics. This is bigger than oil,” she said.
While many in Minnesota’s Iranian community oppose the war, some see it as an opportunity to bring about regime change in Iran, now ruled by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his theocratic Islamic regime.
Hamid Kashani, co-founder of the Minnesota Committee in Support of a Democratic Iran, said the news of the war brought “mixed feelings.”
“On one hand, I’m very sad for my country and for my people,” he said, and on the other, he hopes that “this is the beginning of the end of the regime in Iran.”
‘War is not the way’
Shakhsari, however, believes that “war is not the way to have any kind of meaningful structural change that brings any kind of democratic government in Iran.” Yusefzadeh echoed that view, saying, “When a foreigner comes and makes decisions for us without considering thousands of years of our culture and history, whatever they put in place will fail.”
A statement co-drafted by Shakhsari on behalf of the Iranian diaspora in Minnesota read: “We reject regime change from the outside and insist on the Iranian people’s self-determination. Any change in the structure of the government must be decided by the majority of the Iranian people and not by Israel, the U.S.”
A poll conducted by YouGov for the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) found that a majority of Iranian Americans opposes U.S. military action against Iran.
NIAC has been linked to lobbying efforts by the Iranian government.
In Iran itself, jailed women activists also wrote a letter condemning Israel’s attack and warning against foreign intervention seeking regime change in the country, according to the Middle East Eye.
Mitra Jalali, a lifelong Minnesotan and its first Iranian American elected official, said she has been regularly checking news and social media for updates on her family in Iran, and worries about their safety.
“We are just as American as we are Iranian, and we are watching this happen now with this sick feeling that this country just doesn’t care about us,” said Jalali, a former St. Paul City Council member.
She urged Minnesota’s congressional delegation to push for diplomacy by supporting a bipartisan measure opposing U.S. participation in the war on Iran.
“Congress needs to use its role as the power of the purse to stop funding military aid to Israel that is destabilizing our country, and killing people against international law,” Jalali said.
Mehr “Jay” Shahidi, a Minnesota business owner and international affairs researcher who protested against the Vietnam War and the Iraq War during his early years in America, has been writing to Congress urging a ceasefire instead of an escalation or participation of the United States. “[Donald Trump] has the military power and economic power, prestige, and being the most powerful country in the world, has a historic responsibility to bring calm,” Shahidi said.
Many feel solidarity with Palestine
The Israel-Iran war erupted amid mounting civilian casualties in Gaza and the West Bank, where Israel’s offensive since Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023, has killed more than 55,000 Palestinians.
Many in Minnesota’s Iranian community say that the events of the past week have strengthened their solidarity with Palestinians.
“I was already glued to my phone over the last 600-plus days since Oct. 7,” said designer Justin Bābak of Minneapolis. “I’ve never felt closer to Palestinians than I do now,” he said. “I see that our struggles are all connected.”
Shakhsari, who has helped organize protests and teach-ins in solidarity with Palestine at the University of Minnesota, is watching the new war unfold in the shadow of the war on Gaza. “We cannot ignore the connections between what’s happening in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Iran,” they said.
Amjadi said she has been reaching out to Palestinian friends.
“It was obvious that our destinies are tied together,” she said. “I am learning from them how to be strong and not break down.”
Clarification: This story has been updated to add context on the National Iranian American Council and its poll.
