10 hours ago
Protestors in Denver oppose war with Iran: "Do not define the Islamic regime as the Iranian people"
As tensions rise over President Trump's decision to launch airstrikes against Iran, a last-minute protest Sunday at the Colorado State Capitol drew people voicing opposition to the prospect of another U.S. war in the Middle East.
The demonstration, organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, came together in less than 24 hours. A few dozen protesters gathered peacefully in the afternoon to condemn the military action and call for peace.
"There was no way that we weren't gonna be out here protesting," said Katie Leonard, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Just blocks away, Aryan Kiani, who came to the United States as a student in 1978, offered a different perspective. Kiani, an Iranian-born Denver resident who advocates for a secular Iran, criticized both the U.S. strike and the Islamic regime in his home country.
"The violence is gonna cause the violence in the future, and it's not gonna help the United States," Kiani said. "Do not define the Islamic regime as the Iranian people. They are not."
Mr. Trump said that he launched strikes against the Iranian nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan on Saturday and called the strikes a "spectacular military success."
In addition to retaliatory strikes against Israel, which launched strikes against Iran on June 12, Iran launched missiles at the U.S. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Monday. Later that day, Mr. Trump said that Israel and Iran have agreed on a "Complete and Total" ceasefire.
Despite differing views, protesters and Kiani shared opposition to further U.S. military involvement in the region. Protesters drew parallels to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
"We've lived through this already," Leonard said. "Back when George W. Bush said that Iraq had so-called 'weapons of mass destruction' and used that as a pretext to send us to war."
Kiani said he hopes international intervention won't be necessary and that change in Iran can come from within.
"Let the people do the job," he said. "You don't need the military."
The protest ended peacefully around 5:30 p.m., with organizers saying more demonstrations are likely in the future.
