{"id":198871,"date":"2026-03-01T03:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T03:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/198871\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T03:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T03:54:13","slug":"san-francisco-protest-denounces-u-s-israel-military-strikes-on-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/198871\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco protest denounces U.S.-Israel military strikes on Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Several hundred people gathered outside the Federal Building at Seventh and Mission Streets in San Francisco on Saturday afternoon to protest the massive U.S.-Israeli military operation<\/a> against Iran that began around 1 a.m. EST.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here to call for no war in Iran, no foreign intervention in the country,\u201d said Yasmine Mortazavi, an Iranian American organizer for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, one of several Bay Area groups that organized the event. She said the protest was personal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have friends and family in Iran who I haven\u2019t been able to talk to,\u201d she said. \u201cI assume my family is fleeing their city as we speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Iranian state media reported Saturday evening that at least 201 people had been killed and more than 700 injured. The dead reportedly include more than 100 people killed<\/a> in an Israeli air strike on an elementary girls\u2019 school in the southern city of Minab.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AProtesters gather outside the Federal Building in SoMa following U.S.-Israeli airstrikes in Iran. Photo by Sarah Hopkins.<\/p>\n

\"AOne of many anti-war signs outside the SoMa Federal Building on Saturday. Photo by Sarah Hopkins.<\/p>\n

Nina Vishwakarma, a San Francisco resident, said she was particularly shaken by reports of the bombing of the girls\u2019 school. \u201cWe\u2019re tired of U.S. intervention in the Middle East, and of Israel\u2019s action in the Middle East,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want manufactured consent for this war. The narrative seems to always be about protecting the rights of girls, but today it was a girls\u2019 school that was bombed.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump announced Saturday afternoon that Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The strikes occurred shortly after renewed U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, during which Trump pressured Tehran to limit its nuclear program as he deployed additional warships to the region. Iran\u2019s government has faced mounting civil unrest in recent weeks, with economic protests evolving into broader anti-government demonstrations. The Iranian government reportedly<\/a> killed thousands in cracking down on the protests.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t support bombing countries for whatever Trump is looking for \u2014 oil or power in the Middle East,\u201d said Fern, a student at San Francisco State who declined to provide her last name. \u201cMy best friend has family in Iran, and I\u2019m terrified for her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The \u201cNo War on Iran\u201d event featured speakers from the Palestinian Youth Movement, who led the crowd with chants condemning the joint U.S.-Israeli operation as a war crime. By 4 p.m., the crowd of approximately 300 demonstrators had scattered across Seventh Street, between Stevenson and Mission Streets, with many carrying signs calling for peace and respect for human rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Only 21 percent of Americans supported a war with Iran before today\u2019s strikes, according to a poll from the University of Maryland<\/a> taken earlier in February. Forty-nine percent opposed.<\/p>\n

A few protesters carried signs suggesting the air strikes were intended to divert attention from the U.S. Department of Justice\u2019s abortive and piecemeal release of the Epstein files \u2014 a developing controversy that Trump has sought to downplay.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AProtestors held signs with anti-Trump, anti-war slogans. Photo by Sarah Hopkins.<\/p>\n

\"ThreeA protester holds a sign in apparent reference to the Epstein files. Photo by Sarah Hopkins. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here to support a message of peace and the gospel, and to speak up for those harmed in this war,\u201d said The Rev. Richard E. Helmer of Grace Cathedral. \u201cWe stand in solidarity for a perpetual and just world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speakers led the crowd with chants of, \u201cFrom the belly of the beast, hands off the Middle East,\u201d as drummers from Nodutdol<\/a>, a Korean American advocacy organization, set a steady background rhythm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe view the recent attacks as part of an ongoing imperialist operation in the Middle East,\u201d said Simon Ma, an organizer with Notudol. \u201cWe know the history of the U.S. as an aggressor. The U.S. dropped approximately 635,000 tons of bombs on Korea. We intimately know the violence,\u201d he said, referring to the Korean War of 1950 to 1953.<\/p>\n

Nick S., a Berkeley resident, was one of many U.S. Army veterans who carried anti-Trump protest signs. \u201cI have a lot of friends serving and I don\u2019t want to see them die. We\u2019ve seen children bombed in Iran already,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you go to war, you\u2019re stained eternally.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AThe Rev. Richard E. Helmer of Grace Cathedral was in attendance. Photo by Sarah Hopkins.<\/p>\n

\"ANick S., a Berkeley resident, was one of many U.S. Army veterans at the protest. Photo by Sarah Hopkins.<\/p>\n

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