Amidst Iranian state media confirming the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in US and Israeli airstrikes targeting Tehran, protests erupted in numerous cities across the United States.

According to The Guardian on February 28, hundreds of people gathered to express their opposition to Washington’s military intervention in the Middle East, from outside the White House in Washington D.C. to Times Square in New York.

“This wasn’t approved by Congress. What Trump did was unilateral,” said Sue Johnson, a protester.

She argued that no president has the right to attack another country without congressional authorization, but also acknowledged that the legislative body’s oversight role “seems to have lost its importance.”

A series of protests were organized by a coalition of left-wing groups, including the ANSWER Coalition, the National Iranian American Council, 50501, American Muslims for Palestine, The People’s Forum, the Palestinian Youth Movement, CodePink, the Black Alliance for Peace, and Democratic Socialists of America.

On February 28, emergency demonstrations took place in many major cities such as Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, and Minneapolis.

Similar activities were also planned for March 1 in smaller cities.

In a joint statement, the organizers stated that the airstrike against Iran was an “illegal act of war” that risks plunging the region into a spiral of violence and unpredictable casualties.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the attacks marked “a catastrophic escalation,” expanding another front of conflict that the American people do not want.

“Bombing cities, killing civilians, and opening a new battlefield – the American people don’t want that. They don’t want another war for the purpose of regime change,” he said.