‘Thank you, Trump’: The Iranians who hope war will topple the regime

London: As missiles exploded across their country, some Iranians rejoiced in the hope that the war would tear down the ayatollahs after 47 years of the Islamic Republic.

“We want regime change,” said Sepideh Marandi, who gathered with hundreds of her fellow Iranians outside the country’s embassy in London.

“We gave 47 years to the Islamic Republic to become what we wanted from a government, and they did not change for the good. They changed for the worst.

“They took the money from the oil and gave it to Hamas, to Hezbollah and all the other terrorist groups in the region. Our own people struggle with buying the basic things – like eggs, like oil, like bread.

“They are hungry, they are in poverty. Enough is enough.”

We were in Hyde Park, opposite the embassy, and cars stopped to cheer the crowd. There was no sign of movement at the embassy. Iranian music blasted from portable speakers, friends gathered to talk, and the gathering felt almost like a celebration. Or, at least, a heightened anticipation that the regime will fall thanks to the strikes ordered by US President Donald Trump.

The protesters cheered when one of their leaders held up a crown to show support for Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah – Iran’s monarch – deposed in 1979.

Everyone seems to be wearing or waving the Lion and Sun flag, the traditional green, white and red banner used before the Islamic regime.

Marandi, who fled Iran a decade ago, said she was not always a monarchist but that she now thought the return of the monarchy was the best way to recover from decades of Islamic rule.

Standing nearby was Ali Matour, 51, a soccer referee who left Iran more than 20 years ago. He was more concerned with removing the regime than deciding who should run the country.

“We need freedom. We’re just looking for a democracy like any other, like Europe or Australia,” he says.

“The war is the only way we can be rid of this government, this dictatorship.”

A ‘rescue mission’ for Iran

Another group marched through Knightsbridge, home to London’s luxury stores, to join up with the crowd at the embassy. It was a large march with several thousand people.

The leaders of the march called out a chant for their followers to repeat: “Trump, Trump, continue, continue.” This went on for minutes. They followed with another: “Thank you, Trump.” One woman held up a sign calling the attacks a “rescue mission” for Iran.

There is a fatalism about civilian casualties, and it is not hard to know why. The regime slaughtered protesters on Iranian streets only weeks ago. There is no way to be sure how many died, but some of the protesters say it was 40,000.

“I myself lost friends and family back home,” said Elli, 44, who does not want her family name published. “My cousin’s friend was shot in front of him. He was 22 years old. Iranian people believe that nobody can be as dangerous as the Iranian government.”

The killings in January have been reported by this masthead and documented by the BBC, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Iranians at this rally told me of family members inside the country who know of young people who were shot in the street, tortured in detention or killed when they were taken to hospital. They mentioned these casualties when I asked them about the civilian deaths from military strikes.

“I’ve had two of my family members being shot in the eye,” says Nazanin, who left Iran when she was a child. “I have another family member who was shot in the stomach. He went to the hospital to get help. Then he was shot in the hospital.

“I’m just shocked that no one’s talking about the atrocity and the monstrosity of the regime’s behaviour.”

The fury at the Islamic Republic is so strong that these Iranians will accept war as the cost of destroying the regime.

“I’m here because they killed two of my cousins,” said Hasti, 23, who does not want her family name disclosed.

“They’re killing innocent people. All we want is that Israel and the USA don’t give up and keep attacking them until this regime changes.”

Her fiance, Armin, 25, pointed to the high spirits of the crowd in Hyde Park: “You see, they are happy that America attacked Iran because they don’t want this regime any more.”

This feeling was so strong it spilt over into the city streets of further north hours later, when Iranian and Jewish people celebrated together in Golders Green, a suburb near Hampstead Heath known for its Jewish population, and also home to a significant number of London’s Iranians.

They danced in the street, while waving the Israeli and US flags as well as the Iranian Lion and Sun.

Other Iranians in London are wary of the movement to restore Reza Pahlavi, who lives in exile in the United States, despite their wish for a new government at home. The Iranian diaspora is diverse and shows no sign of a consensus on the best ruler to run the country.

At the same time as the Hyde Park gathering, a smaller protest assembled at Parliament Square in Westminster. Beneath Big Ben, a protest leader linked the war against Iran with the war in Gaza as the actions of warmongers in Israel and the US. “Palestine will live forever,” the crowd chanted.

This rally lacked the numbers and the passion of the several thousand in Hyde Park. But it included Iranians who are quietly worried about what Trump has unleashed.

One of them, Azadeh, wheeled a pram with a newborn daughter. She mentions Iraq and Afghanistan as examples of the misery that follows an American military strike.

“I feel like it’s going to end in chaos, in lots of killing, both for the people in the Islamic Republic and other groups. There would be massacres.