Analogies were heavy with meanings when more than 1,000 people of Iranian descent gathered in the US capital city on Sunday to voice their support for the US-Israel war on Islamic regime-ruled Iran. Modelled on Donald Trump’s slogan ‘Make America Great Again’ — or MAGA, a name also used now for Trump’s most radical right-wing supporters — some of these Iranians were wearing caps with the words ‘Make Iran Great Again’ or ‘MIGA’.
Their protest gathering also called for “bringing back” Iran’s exiled former crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, whose father was unseated in the Islamic Revolution of 1979 that led to abolition of the monarchy.
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Naz Riz, a 53-year-old attendee wearing a red ‘Make Iran Great Again’ hat, called the conflict in Iran a “rescue operation” by Israel and the United States.
The rally, held on the lawn of the National Mall, not far from the White House, saw a sea of Iranian and American flags, with chants of “USA! USA!” and “Javid shah” (“Long live the shah”).
‘There is no alternative’
Sharita Kord, a 25-year-old nurse from New York City who said she grew up in Iran, told news agency AFP: “I agree with the war, because I think it was the only option.
On whether 65-year-old Pahlavi should take power if the Islamic regime is unseated, she said: “In this situation, you don’t have any other choices.”
The there-is-no-alternative sentiment — sometimes called ‘the TINA factor’ in politics — was widespread in this gathering.
Naz Riz said about those in power in Iran: “They’re like cockroaches. They’re everywhere.”
Nissam Crowe, a 57-year-old attendee from Virginia, also said: “We want democracy. We want freedom.” She called the current Iranian leadership “not the government for the people”.
Riz said she left Iran almost 30 years ago and thinks Pahlavi returning to power would be “the best option right now” for a “democratic transition”.
Not all gathered backed Pahlavi outright.
“I’m not a direct supporter of Pahlavi,” Ehsan Terani, 45, of Montreal, told AFP. “At least for the transition period, I think there is any other alternative.”
She added that, after the transition phase, she hopes to see free elections.
While Pahlavi was not at the rally as he was attending the CPAC conservative political conference in Texas, his wife and daughter both addressed the crowd.
What’s the status of war?
But that, for now, appears a bridge too far as missile continued to rip across the Middle East over the weekend, with neither Washington nor Tehran publicly accepting Pakistan’s offer to host talks to end the conflict.
President Donald Trump said several things. He’s ready to make a deal with Iran, he told reporters Sunday aboard Air Force One. He claimed Iran “gave” the US most of the 15 demands it issued, without offering specifics.
Iran has rejected that 15-point proposal and disputed the US president’s claims about negotiations.
Tehran has insisted on war reparations in its own five-point plan that includes demands such as sovereignty over the Hormuz Strait, which Trump is so far unlikely to accept.
In a separate interview with the Financial Times, Trump said he wants to “take the oil in Iran”, which he said would involve occupying the country’s main oil export hub of Kharg Island.
Trump is also considering a military operation to seize Iran’s near-bomb-grade uranium, three diplomatic officials briefed on the matter told Bloomberg News this month. The Washington Post reported the Defense Department was preparing for potentially weeks of ground operations.
Any mission would likely begin with reopening the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global seaborne oil once flowed. Energy supplies transiting the waterway has slowed to a trickle, causing the largest supply disruption in oil market history.
The arrival of a US amphibious assault group and the entry of Iran-backed Houthi forces heightened fears of escalation as the war entered its second month, even as Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met to seek a diplomatic off-ramp.
“Our men are waiting for American soldiers to enter on the ground,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said.
