Demonstrators in Los Gatos call for regime change in Iran

Around a hundred people gathered on the lawn next to Los Gatos Library on Saturday to recognize the deaths of protesters in Iran and call on the U.S. to support a revolution in the country.

Protests sprang up all over Iran in December and January, largely fueled by an unaffordability crisis driven by inflation and the depreciation of the country’s currency. Many of the protesters called for a regime change. Iran is an Islamic republic with an Islam-based, theocratic constitution following the 1979 revolution. Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have accused the Iranian government under Ali Khamenei of human rights abuses including discrimination against women, ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ people; systematically enforced disappearances and executions; and impunity of government officials. The protests were met with violent crackdowns by Khamenei.

On Jan. 8, internet connection and almost all communication were cut, and thousands of people were killed as the government tried to quell the protests. The government reported the death toll was just 3,000, but human rights organizations estimated that the number is higher. Doctors inside and outside Iran estimated that 30,000 people or more were killed, with their bodies disappearing to mass graves and families being forced to pay high prices for the corpses of their loved ones.

The protest was hosted by San Jose for Iran, said organizer Nahal Curvelo. The group hosted a DJ to play Persian songs, and attendees waved tri-color Iranian flags bearing the Lion and Sun emblem, the country’s flag before the 1979 revolution. They called the massacres in Iran a “genocide of Iranians,” with some people comparing Khamenei to Adolf Hitler. The protesters chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho! Islamic regime must go!”

Organizer Rashel Alexin said that she lost contact with her cousins in Iran for four or five days after communications were cut off from the country. She said she feared that their lives were in danger because they were Christian.

“We tried to reach out to (the) church to find out what their status is, but they couldn’t even provide us with any information, so it’s very sad and very devastating. But at the same time, we’re angry at the regime and we want something to be done,” Alexin said.

Alexin said that she confirmed that her cousin was safe last week. As an Assyrian Christian, she denounced the government of Iran. She recalled that before she and her family emigrated to Germany and later the United States, she had to wear a head scarf and could not read the Bible as a kindergartener in Catholic school.

“It’s not just about being able to wear whatever you want,” Alexin said. “It’s about everything: about economics, about freedom of speech, freedom of rights and just to be able to speak up.”

The group passed out pamphlets for the Iran Novin Party, a conservative political party that was established in 2023. The party considers itself to be a “descendent of Iran’s constitutional revolution” and supports the restoration of Prince Reza Pahlavi, son of the last shah of Iran.

They called for a free Iran that would be defined by secular laws and democracy; investments into infrastructure, healthcare and technology; and economic independence.

The 1979 Iranian Revolution ended the Pahlavi’s rule. The Pahlavis were known for modernizing and centralizing operations in Iran based on Western models of industrial development, according to an article by Stanford University. The royal government was also known as a dictatorship for banning political parties, suppressing revolts and political opposition, controlling the press and having its own secret police force called SAVAK. Despite this, Iranians still enjoyed many freedoms, including religious freedom, entrepreneurship and traveling and studying abroad. The 1979 revolution was driven by economic unrest, much like the current protests. Once Ruhollah Khomeini overthrew the shah, he assumed control of the government and stifled dissent with executions, overturning civic laws and implementing new dress codes to uphold an Islamic regime.

“I’ve been living in Australia and also (the) United States,” said organizer Bita Hamidi. “I appreciate the freedom and the liberty that both countries have been offering, but I would like to see the same basic freedom, the same basic human right, in my motherland, Iran.”

Vice Mayor Maria Ristow spoke at the protest, acknowledging the personal impact of the Iranian community in the U.S. She also acknowledged the resilience of Iranian women, noting the repressive laws against them. She honored the women and men killed in Iran last month and demanded the California and national governments support a regime change in the country.

“The unjust, cruel, authoritarian government of the beautiful country of Iran is desperately clutching to power in the face of protests from its own citizens, begging for, asking, demanding freedom: freedom of speech, religion, gender equality, access to education — the freedoms that create a vibrant future for a country like Iran with an ancient, rich history,” Ristow said.