Iran Protests in Boston: Rallies Since 2022

گزارش: اعتراضات و تجمع‌های ایرانیان بوستون علیه جمهوری اسلامی، از «زن، زندگی، آزادی» در سال ۲۰۲۲ تا جنگ ۲۰۲۶

Iranian Americans in Boston have held at least 11 publicly reported protests, marches and vigils against the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran since September 2022, according to local news coverage reviewed by The Boston Report. The gatherings moved from Boston Common and Harvard Yard during the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement to weekly rallies at Copley Square during the January 2026 crackdown in Iran and the US-Israeli war that began Feb. 28, 2026. This report lists each event with the turnout and organizers named by the outlets that covered it, plus community and safety resources for Iranians in Boston.

For background on the community itself, see our guide to Iranians and Persians in Boston: community, history and culture. For the war’s latest numbers, see the Iran War Tracker.

Timeline of Boston protests against Iran’s government

Turnout figures below are as reported by each outlet. Organizers did not publish independent counts, and The Boston Report did not attend these events.

Date	Place	What happened	Reported turnout	Source
Sept. 24, 2022	Boston Common	March near the 54th Regiment memorial after Mahsa Amini’s death; about a dozen women cut locks of hair	“Hundreds”	Boston Globe
Sept. 30, 2022	Widener Library steps, Harvard	Student and faculty solidarity rally	About 50 (Crimson); about 100 (WBZ)	Harvard Crimson, CBS Boston
Oct. 1, 2022	State House steps and Boston Common	Rally and march around the Common	More than 500	CBS Boston, USIP Iran Primer
Oct. 20, 2022	Harvard Yard	“Die-in” at the John Harvard statue; names of victims read aloud	About 40	Harvard Crimson
Sept. 17, 2023	Boston	Gathering marking the first anniversary of the movement	Not stated	VOA Persian
Jan. 17, 2026	Copley Square (Boston Public Library)	March backing protesters in Iran and urging US action	“A large group”	WCVB, NBC Boston
Jan. 23, 2026	Watertown	Candlelight vigil for people killed in Iran’s protests, hosted by the Iranian Association of Boston	More than 100 (per organizer)	IAB
Early Feb. 2026	Copley Square	“Boston Stands With the People of Iran” human chain in 10-degree weather	About 300	Sampan
Feb. 28, 2026	Copley Square	“Freedom of Iran Rally” after US-Israeli strikes began	“Hundreds”	CBS Boston
March 2, 2026	Downtown Crossing	Counter-event: anti-war march opposing the US operation	“Dozens”	Berkeley Beacon
March 7, 2026	Copley Square	Weekly rally by Boston for Iran / Iranian Americans of Boston	“Dozens”	CBS Boston, NBC Boston, WCVB

2022: “Woman, Life, Freedom” rallies after Mahsa Amini’s death

Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died Sept. 16, 2022, after her arrest by Iran’s morality police over hijab rules. Iranian officials said she died of a heart attack, a cause her family disputed, the Boston Globe reported.

At the first large Boston rally on Sept. 24, demonstrators chanted “Women want freedom,” and the Globe reported that many declined to give their names. One woman who gave her first name as Zara, 28, said she feared reprisals against her parents in Iran. Banafsheh Salamat, 57, of Swampscott, told the Globe: “They continue to attack every aspect of human rights. And it has to stop.”

The Oct. 1 State House rally drew more than 500 people, according to CBS Boston. Organizer Elaheh Ahmaji told the station: “We are all that girl in Iran who got taken away.” She added that “us being here right now is a danger to all of us.” The US Institute of Peace’s Iran Primer listed the Boston rally among solidarity events on six continents.

On campus, the Sept. 30 Harvard rally was organized by students Saba Mehrzad, Tarina Ahuja, Alaha Nasari and Dina Kobeissi, according to The Harvard Crimson, which reported that the crowd chanted in English and Persian. At the Oct. 20 die-in, co-organizer Ciara Moezidis of Harvard Divinity School said the aim was to “stand in solidarity with the people of Iran,” and Mehrzad said organizers wanted then-President Lawrence Bacow to issue a statement, the Crimson reported. Speaker Dalal Hassane called for recognition of the Kurdish struggle.

2026: Copley Square rallies during the crackdown and the war

Protests in Iran that began in late December 2025 were met with internet and phone blackouts. WCVB reported on Jan. 17 that more than 18,000 people had been arrested and more than 2,500, mostly protesters, killed, citing figures available at the time. At that day’s Copley Square march, Dr. Saeid Gholami said he had not heard from family in Iran in over a week. “We don’t know how many of our cousins, friends, family members are dead or alive right now,” he told WCVB. Organizer Navid Aghasadeghi, a robotics engineer, told NBC Boston: “It’s social, it’s economical, it’s freedom. It’s justice.”

Six days later, the Iranian Association of Boston held a candlelight vigil in Watertown. In a bilingual statement afterward, IAB said it “condemns the regime’s violence” and noted “attempts made by a few individuals to intrude on the spirit of the gathering,” without naming them.

The February human chain exposed a debate over leadership, Sampan reported. Gholami said the crowd chanted the name of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and described him as a transitional figure, while adding, “I’m not a monarchist.” Rod Sanjabi, described by Sampan as an opposition figure who analyzes Iranian political and legal affairs, cautioned that leadership “doesn’t rely on an outside force coming in and dropping bombs.”

After US and Israeli strikes began Feb. 28, hundreds gathered at Copley Square holding US, Iranian and Israeli flags, CBS Boston reported. “This is not a war between USA and Iran. This is a war between USA and Islamic Republic,” attendee Mahan Abdollahinajneon said. By March 7 the Copley rallies had become weekly; Gholami, identified by NBC Boston as being with Boston for Iran, said speakers also wanted civilians protected. WCVB attributed that day’s rally to the Iranian Americans of Boston group.

Counter-events and official responses

Not all Iranian Bostonians backed the war. On March 2, dozens marched through Downtown Crossing against the US operation; some carried the Islamic Republic’s flag, according to the Berkeley Beacon, which listed organizers including the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Jewish Voice for Peace and Massachusetts Peace Action. Farnaz Mobayyen, an Iranian immigrant in Massachusetts for 25 years, told the Beacon: “It’s my motherland.” On March 7, the Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund held a conference in Cambridge on peaceful approaches, WCVB reported.

The Boston Report found no reported statement from the City of Boston or the governor’s office about these rallies, and no reported arrests at them. US Rep. Stephen Lynch criticized the Feb. 28 strikes for proceeding without consulting Congress, CBS Boston reported; his comments concerned the strikes, not the rallies.

How to find upcoming rallies and community groups

Iranian Association of Boston (IAB): a nonprofit based in Watertown that describes itself as unaffiliated with any political or religious party. It posts community events at iaboston.org and circulates flyers through its CityNews service, which carries a disclaimer that event views are not necessarily IAB’s.
Iranian Americans of New England for Woman Life Freedom: a grassroots group that says it organizes rallies and states it is unaffiliated with IAB and IIB (Independent Iranians of Boston); see frombostontoiran.org.
Campus groups: past rallies at Harvard were organized by students and promoted on social media, the Crimson reported.

Know your rights and safety concerns

The ACLU of Massachusetts says people may generally protest on public sidewalks, streets, parks and government plazas, that permits may be required for marches blocking traffic or for amplified sound, and that people may record police in public without interfering. If arrested, it advises staying silent and asking for a lawyer.

Fear of surveillance runs through the reporting: many Boston protesters in 2022 and 2026 withheld their names. The FBI defines transnational repression as foreign governments stalking, harassing, hacking or threatening diaspora members and their relatives at home, and asks targets to report it. The US Treasury in 2021 sanctioned four Iranian intelligence operatives accused of hiring a private investigator to surveil a New York-based Iranian-American activist as part of a kidnapping plot.

Additional details

CBS Boston reported the Harvard rally was followed by a Boston Common rally announced for 11 a.m. the next day.
Sampan cited an analysis by Mazdak Azar estimating that 17% of about 9,000 protest videos from inside Iran included pro-monarchy slogans.
IAB thanked Bentley students and local businesses for supporting the Jan. 23 vigil.
The Boston Report found no published reports of Boston-area car rallies against the Islamic Republic, and no reported Boston events after March 2026. Readers can send dated reports of later events to the newsroom.

Sources

Featured image: Boston Public Library, Copley Square, by Boston Starbucks Rebel, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

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Boston Protests Against Iran’s Government: A Timeline From Woman, Life, Freedom to the 2026 War