The U.S. and Israel's airstrikes on Iran drew conflicting responses in Western Washington, including among Seattle-area Iranian Americans who praised the military action and others who condemned the strikes as unjustified and foolhardy.

In Bellevue on Saturday morning, a crowd of demonstrators rallied at the Wilburton Park and Ride. Dozens of cars paraded in support of President Donald Trump's bombardment. Iranian state media later confirmed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed in the attack.

Iranian expats sang, danced and tromped on the theocracy's flag. Several waved Lion and Sun flags — the Iranian banner before the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Others displayed Israeli flags.

Neginja Vidan, 45, of Renton, said she came to the rally to thank the United States and Israel, saying the people she knows in Iran back the effort to topple the Islamic regime.

"They're willing to die by Israel and U.S.A. bombs, rather than in the streets by Islamic Republic," said Vidan, who was born in Iran. “The family I have, the friends I have, I spoke to them today, and they said, 'We'd rather die but Iran gets free.'”

Golbon Marandiz was born in Iran, and her family left when she was 5 years old. For her, Saturday meant liberation.

"It's going to take a while, but everything's going to change,” Marandiz said.

Other Iranian Americans strongly disagreed, saying the attacks would only lead to the deaths of innocent people and could destabilize the Middle East, leading to a broader conflict.

Over 150 protest 'this war' in downtown Seattle

At Seattle’s Pike Place Market, more than 150 people rallied in the streets to protest the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.

The crowd marched from Pike Place Market through downtown Seattle for over a mile, halting traffic along the way. Protesters marched past the Target near the market, along Fourth Avenue and later circled back to Pike Place.

Various organizations joined the event, including Seattle Against War, the Palestinian liberation group Nidal Seattle, the Seattle Democratic Socialists of America and the University of Washington’s Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return, among others.

Rae Lee, the chair of Seattle Against War — a chapter of the national Anti-War Action Network — said the U.S. attacks on Iran have put the world “on the precipice of World War III.”

“Nobody wants this war,” Lee said. “We do not have the money to be taking us to war. This money should be going towards investments here: our public health crisis, housing, health care."

Lee said the attacks by "the ruling oligarchs" will bring the U.S. to “a deeply unpopular war that doesn’t serve working-class American interest,” comparing the airstrikes to the U.S. military strike on Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolás Maduro.

The reaction to the rapidly escalating conflict in Iran has, in many ways, mirrored the aftermath of Maduro's capture. Many Venezuelan expats in the U.S. celebrated the removal of a head of state who was widely seen as a dictator, while anti-war activists and members of Congress expressed anger at Trump for a sudden attack on an oil-rich sovereign nation.

While protesters gathered at Pike Place’s entrance, couples took photos with the market’s famous clock and sign. Families carried Seattle-themed souvenirs as activists crowded the market’s main entrance.

Several people waved Iranian and Palestinian flags and carried signs that read: “Hands off Palestine & Iran! No blood for oil!”

As the protest moved through downtown, the crowd chanted: “From Iran to Palestine, stop our country’s war crimes!”

Several protesters wore kaffiyehs, the Middle Eastern scarves that have become symbols of solidarity with Palestinians in war-torn Gaza.

Lee said Seattle Against War had been planning the rally since January, before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.

“It's so senseless,” Lee said, “and we can transparently see that this is actually not about what President Trump says it's about. It's about resources, it's about geopolitical positioning. And it is about the fact that American hegemonic control over the globe is starting to fail.”

Heartbreak and hope

Aria Fani, director of the Persian and Iranian studies program at the University of Washington, said Trump had not even bothered to publicly justify the military attack before launching it.

"This is the sportification of imperialism. We are at war with a country of 95 million people, and the American public that funds this war doesn't even know why it started," Fani said, comparing the attack to Hitler's 1939 invasion of Poland.

"This makes George Bush look like the Nobel laureate for peace. It is so callous, so irresponsible to risk so many lives without any sort of objective," he added.

Fani, who grew up in Iran, said he has not been able to reach an 85-year-old relative who lives there and worries she will die amid the bombardment and chaos.

State Rep. Darya Farivar, D-Seattle, said in an interview she and others are "heartbroken and devastated" that Trump launched a military strike "illegally and unconstitutionally."

Farivar, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Iran, said there is plenty of disagreement among Iranian Americans about how to get rid of the current Iranian regime.

“I firmly believe that war is not the answer," she said. "I firmly believe that bombs will not liberate Iranians. They will only kill people and decimate them and prevent their chances of revolution and democracy coming in."

She said Congress should pass a War Powers resolution to reassert its control over military actions.

Washington's Democratic congressional leaders, including Sen. Patty Murray and Sen. Maria Cantwell, swiftly criticized Trump for failing to get congressional approval before the strike, with Murray calling for a quick vote to "end this war."

Trump has strong political support among some local Iranian Americans.

Hossein Khorram, a local Republican Party fundraiser and apartment developer who fled Iran with his family in 1979, praised Trump's decision to attack the country and push for regime change.

"A lot of people are saying this is a foreign war. No, this is saving Americans from a Nazi-like regime who will bring death and destruction. This is a preemptive strike to bring peace to the world," Khorram said in an interview.

He predicted a new Iranian regime would emerge that would be friendly to the U.S. and to Israel, and he criticized Democrats in Congress for trying to assert their authority under the War Powers Act.

"They should really be ashamed of themselves," he said.

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