STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The supreme leader of Iran is acknowledging that thousands of people were killed during recent protests there. In Los Angeles, where there's a very large Iranian American community, demonstrators marched against that violence over the weekend. Steve Futterman was there as people filled the street in front of City Hall.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Shouting in non-English language).
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Shouting in non-English language).
STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: For some people at yesterday's LA protest, they have been doing this for a long time.
SONA: (Speaking Farsi).
FUTTERMAN: One of those at City Hall was Sona (ph). She is in her 70s and asked that her full name not be used out of fear for her family still in Iran. She expressed her views in Farsi. I asked her to translate her comments.
Translate a little bit in English for me.
SONA: Oh. Down with Khamenei. The Iranian people - we are with you.
FUTTERMAN: The LA area has the largest concentration of people of Iranian descent in the U.S., estimated to be 600,000. There were people of all ages. Many brought Iranian flags that were used before the 1979 revolution. A popular sign was, make Iran great again. Another person taking part was 22-year-old Tina Naeimiyan (ph).
TINA NAEIMIYAN: We're all going to fight together. We're going to make a change. The young generation - we're going to make a difference.
FUTTERMAN: The idea of U.S. military intervention has not always been a popular choice. Iranians in the U.S. have often been divided by the role the U.S. should play. But it seems the events of the past few weeks have made a large number of those once opposed to such action change their minds. Fairgot Forouzan (ph) says the choice is obvious.
FAIRGOT FOROUZAN: We need to take them out. The United States should help. Israel should help, and any other country that is going to. And they're all - we're all going to benefit from it.
FUTTERMAN: At the end of the rally, those gathered marched for several blocks in downtown LA.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Shouting in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Shouting in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Shouting in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Shouting in non-English language).
FUTTERMAN: A sign at the front of the march read, silence is complicity. The world must not stay silent.
There were a large number of people yesterday who believe it's only a matter of time before the Iranian government will fall. Some think it could happen soon. But others, like Sona - that 70-year-old woman who marched yesterday - have often seen hopes rise, only to see them dashed.
For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles.
(SOUNDBITE OF THIS WILL DESTROY YOU'S "LEATHER WINGS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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