In New York City’s Washington Square Park, a crowd of dozens gathered for a vigil organized by several left-wing groups to mourn the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader who was killed last week on the first day of the war between Iran, the U.S., and Israel.

Mourners waved flags bearing the leader’s face, chanted “marg barg Amrika” (“death to America”). One participant performed a Nazi salute.

Across a police-lined metal barricade stood a slightly larger crowd of about 60 counterprotesters carrying the pre-Revolutionary Iranian flag, as well as American and Israeli flags. Some Iranian counterprotesters articulated an explicit solidarity with Jews and Israelis, finding parallels between participants of this vigil and protesters who expressed support for Hamas after Oct. 7.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had served as Iran’s supreme leader since 1989. Under his leadership, Iran became widely regarded by U.S. officials as the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, supporting regional militant groups including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.

Iran has long funded, armed, and trained Hamas, including ahead of the Oct. 7 attacks, which Khamenei praised. He was also well known for enforcing strict Sharia law in Iran and brutalizing dissenters within the country, most recently during a crackdown earlier this year on anti-regime protesters, thousands of whom were killed.

Vigil participants made speeches memorializing Ali Khamenei — but they were hard to hear over the din of counter-protesters.

Larry Holmes, a speaker at the vigil and a member of the Workers World Party, a communist organization, told the Forward that he had come to “commemorate the martyrs that have been killed by the U.S. Israeli attack, first and foremost, Ayatollah Khamenei,” whom he called “a man of social justice” and “a man of peace based on his statements about Palestine.” He also hoped to commemorate “the children who have been killed.”

Counterprotesters jeered at the participants, calling them “terrorists.” They also chanted “Khamenei kotlet” (the Farsi word for ground beef), along with “Trump, Trump, thank you,” and “Bibi, thank you,” and did the wave with their flags, joyously screaming “Khamenei mard!” (Khamenei is dead). At one point, an Iranian counterprotester opened a Tupperware container of brownies and began sharing them with those on her side of the barricade.

Several counterprotestors held signs with pictures of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former shah, who has positioned himself as a possible transitional leader and is known for his support of Israel.

At one point, a group of counterprotesters chanted “terrorist” at a vigil attendee, prompting him to give a “Heil Hitler” salute in response.

Most of the counterprotesters interviewed by the Forward were Iranian expatriates, and many said their anger was not only about repression inside Iran, but also about the regime’s support for militant groups across the Middle East.

“These guys, who are not even Iranians, are holding a vigil for a murderous man who killed hundreds of thousands of Iranians, and burned down to ashes at least five, six different countries in the region,” said Shokran Rahiminezhad, an Iranian-born political geographer who was exiled from Iran by the regime. “We are furious that they are holding a vigil for him while we Iranians are absolutely happy.
I haven’t experienced life without him ruling my life and my country. I’m having the best day of my life.”

Another Iranian counterprotester, Adele Shahi, said the demonstration was about more than changing Iran’s government. “We are not protesting only to change our regime,” she said. “This is not only a government, it’s a terrorist system that hijacked not only Iran but Middle Eastern countries.” She added that the regime had also severed Iran’s historic ties with its neighbors. “In our history, we had ties to Israel and to the rest of the Middle East. That terrorist network destroyed that.”

Solidarity between Iranians and Jews

The gathering took place during Shabbat, far from the New York area’s hubs of Iranian Jewish life, and few Jews were among the Iranian counterprotesters.

Yet among the non-Jewish Iranians, Khamenei’s connection to Oct. 7 was central to why the vigil felt so offensive to them, they said.

Counterprotester Rad, who moved to the U.S. from Iran three years ago, requested that his last name not be published because of threats to his family in Iran after he was previously quoted in news coverage. He spoke of solidarity between opponents of the Iranian regime and Jews in Israel. “October 7th was orchestrated by the Islamic Republic, ordered directly by Ali Khamenei, and October 7th is the new version of the Holocaust,” he said. “We believe it was orchestrated to push Jewish people out of the Middle East.”

He added, “Without Jewish people, no Iranian has security and safety. We need Iranian Jews; we need the state of Israel allied with Iran to have a Middle East with peace and prosperity.”

Rahiminezhad echoed that view.

“Khamenei hijacked the Palestinian cause and turned it into a Shia axis of resistance,” he said. “He supported and planned for October 7, and this is not something that one can forgive. This is his legacy.”

Some counterprotesters said that watching people mourn Khamenei reminded them of how Jews and Israelis had watched crowds celebrate the Oct. 7 attacks.

Rahiminezhad said the moment had created an unexpected sense of mutual support.

“We supported Jews after October 7; they are supporting us here. We feel for each other, of course.”

On the other side of the barricade, the atmosphere was very different.

A shrine displayed photos of Ali Khamenei alongside flowers, candles, and images of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Malcolm X. The shrine also displayed informational pamphlets, including “Zionism and Racist Landlords: Abuse From Hasidic Sects in Brooklyn” and “From South Africa to Gaza, How the Islamic Republic of Iran Supports People’s Liberation Everywhere.”

One vigil organizer struggled to continue his prepared remarks as counterprotestors danced and made Middle Eastern ululations of joy called zaghrouta to celebrate Khamenei’s death. He paused to say, “I am feeling very invalidated tonight.”

Later in the evening, pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist Jake Lang arrived in a U-Haul, simulated a sex act on a live goat, and shouted an Islamophobic tirade. Police quickly closed the truck door, and he sped off.

Several people were arrested after a counterprotester attempted to tear down a photo of Khamenei. He was beaten by vigil participants before the NYPD intervened, handcuffing those involved.

Watching the vigil, counterprotester Adele Shahi became emotional thinking about the Iranians who died last month at the hands of the ayatollah during the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protestors. “The IRGC killed a child named Ali Mohammad Sadeghi. That person was 2 years old. Was he a protester?” she asked. “No. What’s the difference between that kid and the children in Israel, and the children in Gaza? You cannot have a double standard.”

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