Dozens of protesters gather in Raleigh’s Moore Square to oppose US attack on Iran
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- Dozens protest in Raleigh’s Moore Square against U.S. strikes on Iran
- Organizers link the attacks to U.S. policy in Gaza and resource-driven aims
- Speakers argue the strikes distract from domestic cost-of-living and jobs issues
Dozens of people gathered in downtown Raleigh Saturday to protest the United States’ strikes on Iran.
The U.S. and Israel bombed Iran early Saturday morning, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social. Trump called on the people of Iran to overthrow their government, vowing to dismantle the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear program. The U.S. launched strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has led the country since 1979. Some of the airstrikes targeted Khamenei’s compound and other Iranian government officials, The New York Times reported.
The “Stop the War on Iran!” protest in Raleigh was one of more than 80 protests organized quickly across the country against the U.S. military action. The protests were sponsored by the ANSWER Coalition, National Iranian American Council, 50501, American Muslims for Palestine, The People’s Forum, Palestinian Youth Movement, CODEPINK, Black Alliance for Peace and Democratic Socialists of America.
Protesters gathered in Moore Square before marching down Hargett and Wilmington Streets chanting “Iran, we got your back, no more U.S. attacks” and “Trump, Trump, you’re a liar, you set Iran on fire.”
Speakers came from the Party of Socialism and Liberation of the Triangle (PSL), Palestinian Youth Movement, Triangle Democratic Socialists of America and Muslims for Social Justice. A Palestinian flag draped the front of a small table with socialist and anti-imperialist literature at the edge of Moore Square Saturday morning.
Organizers who spoke to the crowd connected the attacks on Iran to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Victor Urquiza, a PSL organizer, told The News & Observer the strikes in Iran are an “imperial expansion” from the U.S. support of Israel in Gaza. Urquiza found no coincidence that Iran, like Venezuela — whose president the U.S. overthrew in January — has vast oil reserves.
“All these things are not separate. They’re all connected,” Urquiza said.
Speakers and protesters also said the military action against Iran was an attempt to distract people from cost-of-living concerns at home.
“I don’t know about y’all, but I don’t wake up in the morning thinking about Iran’s government,” Thomas Crowe-Allbritton, an organizer with PSL, told the crowd. “I think about how I’m gonna put gas in my car.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2026 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Dozens of protesters gather in Raleigh’s Moore Square to oppose US attack on Iran."
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