A free Iran is their shared dream. But the diaspora remains torn on the best path forward.

There’s recently been "more tension than we normally get in the diaspora," said one Iranian studies scholar.

People walk under a pre-1979 Islamic Revolution Iranian flag during a demonstration in Los Angeles last month.Apu Gomes / AFP - Getty Images

March 7, 2026, 7:30 AM EST

By Alicia Victoria Lozano

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LOS ANGELES — It was a tale of two protests.

Just outside City Hall last Saturday, hundreds of Iranian Americans poured into the streets to decry the start of an unsanctioned war. They chanted “Stop the war in Iran” and “We the people don’t want war.”

Across town, on the Westside, in a neighborhood known as “Tehrangeles,” hundreds of members of the same diaspora celebrated what they felt like could be the start of regime change in their homeland. They carried American, Israeli and Iranian flags, danced to loud music, and celebrated the news that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been killed in the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes.

The mix of joy and anxiety among the Iranian diaspora in recent days reflects the complicated emotions many feel as violence escalates in the Middle East — especially those whose families fled the theocratic regime that took power after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

“Some people are so aggrieved at this regime that they say, ‘At any cost, come and destroy this regime even if it means destroying parts of the country,’” said Abbas Milani, director of Iranian studies at Stanford University. “Others want to get rid of the regime but not at the expense of war.”

Image: Americans React To U.S. And Israel's Attack On Iran — Members of the Iranian community and supporters celebrate in Los Angeles on Feb. 28.Mario Tama / Getty Images

Protest in response to the US and Israel bombing Iran — A crowd gathered at Los Angeles City Hall on Feb. 28 to protest against United States and Israel bombing Iran.Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The divisions mark a shift from earlier this year, when the diaspora appeared united in supporting Iranians protesting the government’s brutal crackdown. While many share the same goal — a free Iran — they disagree sharply on how to achieve it.

“The images of the destruction and the very joyous support that some give to the idea of war has become a source of more tension than we normally get in the diaspora,” Milani said. “It will get harder before it dissipates.”

Online, debates among Iranians have intensified since the attack on Iran. Those perceived as supporting military action are being labeled “Zionists,” a term that since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel has increasingly been used as a slur against Jews; while anti-war voices have been accused of being pro-regime.

Iranians also continue to argue over who should lead if the current government falls. Some support Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah; others remain wary of having anyone associated with the former monarchy in power again.

All this is unfolding as the death toll rises in Iran, and as an internet blackout imposed by the government leaves many unable to contact loved ones. Nowruz — the Persian New Year, a time when Iranians are meant to celebrate the start of spring and a time of renewal — is also on the horizon.

After Khamenei’s death, rumors have swirled that his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, could be chosen as the new supreme leader. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the dominant military, political and economic force in the country, is also poised to expand its power if it can survive the current conflict, analysts told NBC News.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump indicated Thursday that he wants to see Iran’s leadership structure fully removed and that he has some names in mind for a “good leader.”

Americans overall disapprove of how Trump is handling the situation in Iran, according to a recent NBC News poll published earlier this week. Fifty-four percent of potential voters said they do not support Trump’s military engagement, a statistic that mirrors a similar split within the Iranian diaspora.

Last year, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that aims to “give voice to the Iranian American community,” and YouGov conducted a poll that found 53% of Iranian Americans surveyed opposed U.S. military action against Iran. (Jamal Abdi, president of NIAC, said a new poll is set to be released next week with updated numbers.)

Image: A protester holds a placard reading "rich man's war poor peoples blood!" — A protester in front of Los Angeles City Hall holds a placard reading "Rich man's war poor peoples blood!" during a Feb. 28 demonstration against the war in Iran.Etienne Laurent / AFP - Getty Images

“We are not a monolith,” the Iranian Diaspora Collective, an Instagram account with over 81,000 followers, wrote in a post. “Millions of people will never share the same ideology or identity and that plurality is the strength of any free society.”

Los Angeles-based pastor Ara Torosian, a Christian who moved to the United States from Iran in 2010, said it breaks his heart to see the destruction of historic sites and the deaths of innocent people, especially young children.

But from his perspective, the pain people are suffering now rivals generations of suffering from dissidents who did not support the regime. Torosian said he was jailed and beaten when the Revolutionary Guard found Christian items in his Tehran home.

Like many, he rejoiced when the supreme leader was killed. “This is not happiness you see in the streets,” Torosian said. “We celebrate the hope that this regime will end.”

While he has a “hate-love” view of foreign intervention in his homeland, he said his disappointment is largely directed toward Iranians who oppose the strikes altogether.

“We don’t want war, but at the same time what do we do? We tried protesting against the regime and they just killed more people,” he said, referring to this year’s deadly demonstrations in Iran. “War is the only hope for a new Iran.”

Some Iranian Americans, like New York-based activist and commentator Ariana Jasmine, said they understand the reasoning behind those who back the war. But she feels like a “black sheep” within the Iranian diaspora because she is not for it.

Image: Protesters hold placards during a demonstration against the war in Iran — Protesters in front of Los Angeles City Hall hold placards during a Feb. 28 demonstration against the war in Iran.Etienne Laurent / AFP - Getty Images

Protests As Trump Starts Massive Strikes, Urging Iranians To Seize Power — Demonstrators hold a banner reading "No war on Iran" during a protest in Los Angeles on Feb. 28.Kyle Grillot / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Instead, Jasmine said she’d prefer to support an internal revolution led by Iranian dissidents, a sentiment echoed by many who believe foreign intervention will make things worse before they are better and that Iranians should have the power to decide their own future.

Although Jasmine was born in the United States, her parents moved the family back to their native Iran after experiencing racism following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

She attended school in Iran for two years, where she felt deeply troubled by the Islamic Republic’s religious zealotry. During that time, she said she lived in a state of constant fear and paranoia, terrified of the Revolutionary Guard and its violent enforcement tactics, she said. Desperate to leave, she attempted suicide at the age of 13. Her parents ultimately moved her back to the U.S.

Image: TOPSHOT-US-ISRAEL-IRAN-CONFLICT — A woman holds pictures of Reza Pahlavi and President Donald Trump as members of the Iranian community celebrate in front of the federal building in Los Angeles on Feb. 28.Apu Gomes / AFP - Getty Images

Years later, despite the trauma of living under Khamenei’s government, she said she still dreams of returning to Iran.

“I miss everything about it,” she said. “It’s just really the government and the subjugation of its people and forced religion that has truly wrecked my country, not just on a surface level but deeply as well. That kind of political trauma changes people.”

As she hears news reports about airstrikes decimating neighborhoods and destroying historic sites, Jasmine said she wonders if she will ever see Tehran in its full splendor.

“I would love to go back, but what will I go back to?” she said. “I don’t want to go back to rubble.”