Hundreds of people marched in downtown Chicago on Saturday to protest the recent U.S. and Israeli military offensive against Iran, which began earlier that day. The demonstration took place at Federal Plaza, 100 S. Dearborn St., less than a day after air strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei.
Protesters carried signs stating “No war with Iran.” Syed Hasan, one of the organizers, addressed the crowd: “Today, we [woke] up to a war that we do not agree with, a war that is opposed by 70% of Americans,” Hasan said. “This is the same old game. The war machine keeps turning. Take American taxpayers’ dollars, create the same wars.”
Iranian officials confirmed Khamenei’s death after his compound was bombed by Israeli and American forces. In response to these attacks, Iran launched retaliatory strikes targeting locations in Bahrain, Dubai, Tel Aviv and other military bases and cities allied with the U.S. in the Middle East.
Reports from local media indicated that some members of Chicago’s Iranian community welcomed news of Khamenei’s death amid ongoing protests against his government due to worsening conditions in Iran.
Earlier on Saturday, an elementary school for girls in Iran was bombed, resulting in 148 deaths and more than 100 injuries among children and staff members. Three U.S. soldiers were also reported killed and five wounded during operations against Iran.
Air strikes continued into Sunday as President Donald Trump stated that U.S involvement would persist and mentioned plans to speak with Iranian leadership at a later date.
The emergency protest was organized by the Chicago chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation on short notice but still attracted hundreds despite cold weather conditions.
Speakers at the event criticized what they described as unilateral action taken without congressional or public support. Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) told attendees: “This war is not a war on behalf of the American people,” he said. “This is Netanyahu’s war … Our people in our cities are going hungry. We cannot afford groceries, we cannot afford rent, we cannot afford to live, and yet we continue to see the bombs dropping on innocent people.”
Several speakers highlighted concerns about technology companies’ involvement in modern warfare—specifically artificial intelligence used alongside drone operations by Israel and the United States. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, posted Friday evening that his company had “reached an agreement with the Department of War to deploy our models in their classified network.” According to reporting from The Wall Street Journal, Anthropic’s Claude AI tool was also utilized by U.S military forces during their attack on Iran.
“These companies provide Israel and the U.S. with the missiles used to attack Iran, Palestine, Yemen and Lebanon,” activist Yusuf Masood said at Federal Plaza.“They supply the U.S.military with fighter jets,guns hip helicopters,and surveillance technology.We know thatthe common person does not gain anything,andthe blood stains,oils ofwar will be claimed onlybythe ultra wealthy imperialist capitalist class.”
Oak Park resident Sam Houseal spoke about finding hope through collective action: “I feel like it’s unifying in a way,” Houseal said.“Becausea lot oftimes it feels you can get apretty hopeless feeling,but being surrounded by hundreds ofpeople who are allon thesame page,you get taken off your screenand into thestreets.”
Chants opposing further military spending were heard as demonstrators waved Iranian flags while marching down Michigan Avenue toward Trump Tower before returning to Federal Plaza around 7 p.m.A larger protest is scheduled for Monday evening at Ida B.Wells Driveand Michigan Avenue.
