<\/p>\n4 View gallery <\/p>\n
![\"\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HJfP4DEFK11l_0_0_3000_1688_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Protesters")
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Protesters chanting ‘Death to America, death to Israel’ <\/p>\n
(Photo: Yuki Iwamura\/ AP)<\/p>\n
Rival groups clash<\/p>\n
The vigil drew roughly two dozen supporters of Khamenei, who set up the memorial table decorated with keffiyeh scarves, candles and Iranian flags.<\/p>\n
Across a metal police barricade, a similar number of counter-protesters gathered waving American, Israeli and pre-1979 Iranian flags.<\/p>\n
They responded to the vigil with chants of \u201cUSA\u201d and \u201cdeath to the terrorist,\u201d referring to Khamenei.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re here to show everyone that Iranians don\u2019t like the regime,\u201d one demonstrator said.<\/p>\n
An Iranian-born woman who immigrated to the United States criticized those attending the vigil, saying they misunderstood the reality of life under the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just don\u2019t get the message,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are mad dogs. These mad dogs that cannot be released in the world,\u201d she added, referring to the Iranian regime.<\/p>\n
She also voiced support for international pressure against Tehran.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe like the fact that Trump is actually helping Iranians eliminate these people. We appreciated it. It is respectful that this is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Demonstration highlights deep divisions<\/p>\n
Organizers of the vigil described Khamenei\u2019s death as an \u201cassassination by U.S. government forces\u201d in promotional flyers distributed at the event.<\/p>\n
Israeli officials, however, said the Israeli military carried out the strike that killed Khamenei and other senior figures in Tehran. U.S. officials have denied direct involvement.<\/p>\n
Despite the relatively small turnout, the demonstration underscored how the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran has sparked confrontations far beyond the Middle East \u2014 including on the streets of New York City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The chants, delivered in Farsi, rang out during a small vigil organized in Manhattan following Khamenei\u2019s death last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":{"0":"post-156096","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-ny","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-nyc-headlines","12":"tag-nyc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Participants set up a makeshift memorial beneath the park\u2019s iconic arch, placing photographs of Khamenei alongside flowers and candles. Some demonstrators held signs reading \u201csolidarity with Iran,\u201d while others displayed flags bearing the face of Jeffrey Epstein.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rJDVv4FK11e_0_132_3000_1688_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Memorial")
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