A tense encounter erupted at Washington Square Park on Friday, leading to multiple arrests as pro-Iranian regime supporters clashed with anti-Khamenei demonstrators, authorities reported. The pro-regime group had constructed a shrine dedicated to the late Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, Iran’s former supreme leader.
Gathering beneath the iconic Washington Square Arch, around 50 pro-Khamenei supporters displayed Iranian flags and arranged tables adorned with images of the ayatollah alongside other revolutionary icons such as Malcolm X and Patrice Lumumba. They also included figures synonymous with racial justice, like George Floyd.
“Assassination won’t topple regimes,” remarked Shahid Comrade, a 70-year-old Brooklyn resident. “This conflict endangers global safety and steers us closer to another world war.”
On the opposite side of the arch, a similarly sized group of anti-Khamenei protesters made their presence known, many of them wrapped in Israeli and U.S. flags. Their chants of “Khamenei’s dead! Khamenei’s dead!” echoed through the park.
Queens resident Shan Singh, 35, criticized the pro-Khamenei gathering, saying, “Their actions here are a direct insult, especially under an arch symbolizing freedom. Iran’s theocracy clashes with America’s ideals of separating religion and governance. Islam doesn’t align with U.S. principles, and with figures like Mamdani, we’re veering down that path.”
The NYPD has yet to confirm the number of arrests or the charges involved in the incident.
Witnesses described one incident where an anti-Khamenei protester jumped a barrier in an effort to snatch a sign. The man was reportedly beaten by the pro-Iranian protesters before he was taken into police custody.
Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter-turned-far right influencer Jake Lang briefly showed up in a van and committed a lewd act directed at the pro-Iranian regime protesters.
Khamenei was assassinated by an Israeli airstrike on Feb. 28 at the outset of a joint Israeli and U.S. operation intended to topple the Iranian government.
President Trump on Friday demanded the “unconditional surrender” of Iran and the installation of “acceptable” leaders as conditions to end the weeklong war with Tehran that has spread across the volatile Middle East.
