Hundreds of Iranian-Americans met at Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square on Sunday to celebrate this weekend’s military strikes against the Iranian government, which they say has been the source of brutal repression for decades.

For weeks, the group Iranian Americans of Portland has gathered at Pioneer Courthouse Square to dance, sing and ask for the federal government’s help in toppling the Iranian government headed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader for nearly 40 years.

They got their wish Saturday morning, when the U.S. and Israel fired missiles into Iran, killing Khamenei and many other senior Iranian officials.

And for Iranians protesting in Portland, it was a party atmosphere.

Demonstrators took over the street to sing and dance. Many waved the pre-1979 Iranian flag, before the Islamic Revolution. Others held signs and openly wept. The group had called for a “free and democratic Iran.”

Sunday’s gathering came as Iranian retaliatory strikes killed citizens in Israel and U.S. military members in Kuwait.

Bahar Behboodi, one of the organizers, said almost everyone at the protest was born under the regime or has loved ones who still live in Iran.

He said Khamenei’s death felt like the culmination of decades of resistance.

“This is something that we’ve been asking for, begging for, crying for, for 47 years, and finally it’s done,” Behboodi said.

The decision to attack Iran had been met with pushback by some politicians and other protesters.

Democratic members of Congress have criticized the president for launching the attack without congressional approval.

Video in Iran after the attacks has shown contrasting emotions, with some celebrating as others mourned publicly.

But those at Sunday’s demonstration were in support of the military actions.

The protesters chanted slogans thanking President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for ordering Saturday’s military strikes.

Amir Bitaraf is an Iranian student who has lived in the U.S. for the past year. He said he saw news of the attack on television Saturday morning and was stunned. He said his friends and family in Iran were also celebrating the news.

“I couldn’t believe it, because it was in our mind that this person is not going to die,” Bitaraf said of the ayatollah, who was 86 years old. “I think this is a starting point. It’s not finished yet.”

The demonstration stood in stark contrast to a protest one day earlier, where a few dozen gathered at Pioneer Courthouse Square to oppose any ongoing military involvement in the Middle East.

That event was organized by Portland for Palestine.

Anousha Sedighi, a professor at Portland State University, said while she understands those concerns of further U.S. military involvement in the region, she would like other protesters to understand the experiences of Iranian people.

“We know you’re tired of the U.S. getting involved in other countries,” Sedighi said. “But there is nothing like the lived experience of a people. I hope you never know the sheer desperation of a people praying to be bombed only to be free.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/03/01/iranians-in-portland-celebrate-khameinis-death-in-emotional-protest/