Thousands of Iranian Americans rallied in support of recent military operations following strikes targeting the country’s ruling authorities, with pre-revolutionary Iranian and American flags seen waving together in demonstrations across the United States.

Houman Hemmati, a Jewish Persian American who escaped Iran’s Islamic revolution in 1979 with family as a child, told The Epoch Times the patriotic surge in the diaspora “isn’t politics.“ It is ”family coming home.”

“The Iranian American community is not celebrating death, we are celebrating life,” Hemmati said. “The life that was stolen from us in 1979 is being returned to our brothers and sisters in Iran, and we owe that miracle to the moral courage of the United States and Israel.”

Groups gathered in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, chanting and dancing in the streets, many waving flags, photos of President Donald Trump, and handmade signs. Hemmati described the patriotic displays—brimming with emotions, prayers, and tears of joy—as expressions of gratitude and jubilation.

“We are more American today than we have ever been, because America just reminded the world why we risked everything to come here,” he said.

“We did not come to this country to escape one tyranny only to watch America hesitate before another. We came because America is the one place on earth that still believes freedom is worth defending, and this week, America proved it again.”

Supporters said the military operations underway in Iran, led by the United States and Israel, are a response to the repressive Iranian regime.

“The United States did not start a war this week, it finished one the Islamic Republic began in 1979 against its own people, against Israel, against America, and against civilization itself,” Hemmati said.

“America had both the moral authority and the moral duty to act, and it did. History will record this as the moment the indispensable nation chose courage over comfort, and the entire world became safer because of it.”

Iranian American Dr. Hooman Melamed lived under the Islamic Republic regime for nearly 13 years before his family moved to the United States. He explained the rise in patriotism as a moment of relief and hope for millions of Iranians.

“Go bring Iran back to what it was before 1979, bring that culture back, and see how the world was a much better place,” Melamed said. “The opportunity is a long-lasting peace and human rights, in not just the region, but the world. Bloodshed and death will be over.”

A man holds a picture of President Donald Trump as members of the Iranian community and supporters celebrate the U.S. and Israel attack on Iran, in Los Angeles on Feb. 28, 2026. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

His father led Iran’s Ministry of Health before the revolution, a role that the surgeon aspires to reclaim if a new government is established.

“It would be like, wow, I get to do something that he never would have thought is possible,” Melamed told The Epoch Times.

Military operations, ongoing since Feb. 28, are meant to facilitate regime change, according to Trump, who repeatedly advised the population of approximately 93 million Iranians to “take over your government,” telling them, “It will be yours to take.”

Melamed likened the situation to the proverb about taking a horse to water, noting that the masses will have to act to drive sustainable change.

“It’s the same situation Trump is taking, taking the country to where it needs to go,” he said. “The rest of the people have got to step up.”

Iranian expats across the country celebrated, with hundreds of videos on social media showing jubilant crowds chanting with smiles on their faces.

“My first reaction was full of joy and excitement,” Sherry Yadegari of Atlanta told The Epoch Times.

Support is widespread across generations and throughout Iranian communities around the world, she said, emphasizing efforts to raise awareness about the individuals killed and victimized by the regime for protesting atrocities.

Many cheered the announced death of Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who served as president of Iran from 1981 to 1989 before taking over as supreme leader in 1989 following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

“Iranian civilians are and have been begging for this,” Yadegari said. “People are dancing in the streets. Children are cheering and praising Trump and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.”