Several antiwar groups plan to gather in Downtown Dallas Sunday afternoon against further U.S. and Israeli military action in Iran following deadly missile strikes in the country over the weekend.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Saturday’s attack on military and government sites in the country, Iranian state media reported early Sunday.
The attack was launched against Iran in an attempt to halt the country’s development of nuclear weapons and against its hard-line regime, U.S. President Donald Trump said during an address briefly after the bombings.
The attack was also a way to “defend the State of Israel,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a social media post.
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Three members of the United States military have been killed so far during the military action, according to U.S. Central Command.
The targeted attack has led to international protests.
In Dallas, Sumayyah Chenault, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, said the United States’ continuous aggression with other countries has grown tiresome and damaging.
“Americans are fed up with these forever wars,” Chenault said. “Trump campaigned on a promise of peace, and yet he’s only escalated violence from Venezuela to Gaza and now fully opened a new war against Iran.”
The antiwar demonstration in Dallas is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. near the the Grassy Knoll at 411 Elm St., and is organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement of Dallas, the DFW Antiwar Committee, Socialist Organization Dallas and other groups.
Rick Majumdar, who identified himself as part of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, told The Dallas Morning News that organizers oppose the strikes and urges community members to attend.
“The joint message is for the United States to take its hands off Iran,” Majumdar said.
In southern Iran, at least 85 people were reported killed at an all-girls’ school hit by the strikes Saturday.
The attack also disrupted flights across the Middle East and beyond, as countries around the region closed their airspace and three key airports that connect Europe, Africa and the West to Asia halted operations, AP reported.
Thousands of travelers were either stranded or diverted to other airports after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace.
Iran has launched counterattacks against U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar since the initial attack, according to reporting by AP.