SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
As information from the crackdown in Iran has gotten out, communities around the world have been reacting. Steve Futterman has been reporting for us from Los Angeles, where he's been talking with Iranian Americans at a march downtown today. Hi, Steve.
STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Sarah.
MCCAMMON: So Steve, what have you been seeing and hearing there in LA?
FUTTERMAN: Well, it was a very energized gathering here. Organizers say there were several thousand people in front of City Hall. It's important to know that the largest Iranian population in the U.S. resides in the LA area, around 600,000. People here today were carrying flags and all sorts of signs, many of them with the slogan, Make Iran Great Again. Their main goal is to get rid of the current Islamic government. I spoke to Tina Nameiyian.
TINA NAMEIYIAN: I definitely think the government's going to fall.
FUTTERMAN: When?
NAMEIYIAN: Hopefully soon - that's what I'm hoping for. That's what I really want, just to see a big change happen.
FUTTERMAN: Now, she is 22. In the past, there have been differences here between older and younger people of Iranian descent. And while many of those differences may remain, especially any eventual involvement by the family of the former shah of Iran, the events of the last few weeks seem to have brought people together hoping for that one goal, a change in the leadership. Now, many at today's rally believe President Trump must help and are calling for him to take some action.
MCCAMMON: You know, as we heard, there's been speculation about U.S. military action in Iran. That seems to have calmed a bit. But what do the protesters want to happen next?
FUTTERMAN: Well, it's not everyone, but they want some military action. A large number of people want the U.S. to get more involved. Haleh Amid, born in Iran in 1971 - she left with her family when she was an infant, but now reluctantly, she says, she has now come over to the side that believes American military might has to be used.
HALEH AMID: The Iranian regime is a state sponsor of terrorism. They have to stop supporting them. They have to close their embassies.
FUTTERMAN: Do you want military action?
AMID: I personally say, yes, but very targeted strikes.
FUTTERMAN: And you can hear, perhaps, the reluctance in her voice. Another person here today, Fairgot Forouzan, says even though U.S. military action will bring additional deaths, the alternative, he says, is worse.
FAIRGOT FOROUZAN: The lack of military intervention will cause another 16,500 people being massacred. So it's an ongoing issue with the Islamic Republic.
FUTTERMAN: Now, many of these people we've spoken to in the past, they've been opposed to outside military action, but that's one of the things we have seen change in the last few weeks.
MCCAMMON: Steve, you say the people you've been meeting want a change in the leadership of Iran. Some say they want military action from the U.S. But what's the mood? I mean, do they think there's a realistic hope of regime change, especially given the suppression of protests?
FUTTERMAN: Yeah. It depends who you talk to. Some of the people we've talk to are total believers. They think it's a matter of when, not if. They think the government could fall in the next few months. But there are many more who have a more uncertain view. Now, some of these people are longtime residents of Southern California. They've been here since the late 1970s when the Islamic government first took over, and they have had moments of hope in the past, only to see them dashed. So these are people who are a bit more realistic, but they want it. But they're not sure it's going to happen.
MCCAMMON: Steve Futterman outside City Hall in Los Angeles - thank you, Steve.
FUTTERMAN: Thank you, Sarah. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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