{"id":343423,"date":"2026-03-13T02:17:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T02:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/343423\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T02:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T02:17:08","slug":"anti-war-demonstration-at-us-embassy-in-dublin-is-met-by-iranian-counter-protesters-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/343423\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-war demonstration at US embassy in Dublin is met by Iranian counter-protesters \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Outside the United States<\/a> Embassy in Ballsbridge, Dublin<\/a>, on Thursday evening, anti-war protesters prepared for a rally.<\/p>\n

Then a handful of Iranian counter-protesters, carrying US and Iranian flags, alongside a large placard showing the late supreme leader of Iran, ayatollah Ali Khamenei<\/a>, surrounded by flames, suddenly arrived.<\/p>\n

Others carried large signs showcasing Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last shah of Iran<\/a>. An Irish anti-war protester could be heard labelling them \u201cmonarchists\u201d.<\/p>\n

Anti-war protesters carried placards of their own, some of which labelled US president Donald Trump<\/a> the world\u2019s number one \u201cwarmonger\u201d..<\/p>\n

The Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) called a protest against the military action by the US and Israel<\/a> in the Middle East, saying civilians across the region continued \u201cto bear the brunt of the violence\u201d.<\/p>\n

As soon as speakers of various groups, including the IAWM and the Peace and Neutrality Alliance, were handed a microphone, their speeches became nearly inaudible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis protest is called in solidarity with the people of Iran,\u201d Sarah O\u2019Rourke, a member of the IAWM, told those attending the protest. <\/p>\n

Her remark resulted in shouting and a near drowning out of her speech as counter-protesters became enraged.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should be ashamed of yourself,\u201d one shouted. \u201cYou have no idea what you\u2019re on about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael only wants your oil,\u201d one anti-war protester then responded, before the group chanted: \u201cStop the bombing. Stop the war. Freedom for Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the background, protesters from both sides could be seen furiously pointing in each other\u2019s faces and shouting.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Rourke said the group was \u201cnot pro-regime\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are absolutely against the oppression of the people of Iran, but we also have seen what has happened in Libya<\/a>, Afghanistan<\/a> and Iraq<\/a>,\u201d O\u2019Rourke said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the US decides to bomb a country, it leads to devastation for the civilian population, and we\u2019ve seen as well what has happened with Israel and the devastation in Gaza<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Describing the opposing group as \u201cjust one perspective\u201d, she said: \u201cThis is not the way to respond to peaceful protesters who are standing in solidarity with the people of Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon after, counter-protesters chanted: \u201cThank you, Trump\u201d as an Iranian woman called for an end to the conflict.<\/p>\n

While People Before Profit<\/a> TD Richard Boyd Barrett<\/a> condemned the killing of \u201cinnocent schoolchildren\u201d in Iran, opponents labelled those gathered \u201cuseful idiots for the extremist Islamists\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have no idea what it is like living in an Islamic dictatorship. Don\u2019t tell us what we want. We know exactly what we want,\u201d said Daniel Seyri, an organiser of the counter-protest and member of Freedom for Iran Dublin.<\/p>\n

Originally from Tehran, he has lived in Co Kildare for 16 years. He told The Irish Times he believed the protest was a \u201cpolitical gain\u201d for People Before Profit and \u201ctheir political agenda of anti-capitalism and anti-America\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s awkward for us to see they\u2019re not Iranian … they want to be the Iranian voice. We are the Iranians. They don\u2019t even come to us to ask our opinion and they start their own protest out of nowhere when Israel and America gets involved only.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boyd Barrett said the \u201cbombing campaign\u201d of the US and Israel would \u201cdo nothing to bring freedom or justice to the people of Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n

The US\u2019s \u201cmain interest is actually to prevent self-determination\u201d, he said, believing it would \u201cthreaten western interests and United States interests and domination of the oil resources in the region\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very misguided for people to think the United States or Israel are going to facilitate a democratic revolution in Iran,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Outside the United States Embassy in Ballsbridge, Dublin, on Thursday evening, anti-war protesters prepared for a rally. Then…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[118174,969,615,3409,42,11829,3410,43,6000,40,38,41,39,115],"class_list":{"0":"post-343423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-ali-khamenei","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-dublin","11":"tag-gaza-strip","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-iran","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-oil","17":"tag-top-news","18":"tag-top-stories","19":"tag-topnews","20":"tag-topstories","21":"tag-united-states"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}