Massive crowd protesting Iranian regime in Washington as fragile ceasefire holds

A pro-Palestinian flag was raised Saturday during a ceremony at Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago, hours after Israel announced it had killed Hamas military wing leader Izz al-Din al-Haddad in a strike in Gaza.

The event was organized by the Chicago chapter of American Muslims for Palestine, which described it as its fifth annual pro-Palestinian flag-raising ceremony.

Video shared online by independent journalist Brendan Gutenschwager showed attendees gathered in the plaza as the pro-Palestinian flag was raised among surrounding skyscrapers in the city’s downtown Loop neighborhood.

Earlier Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said al-Haddad, whom it described as one of the remaining architects of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, was killed in Gaza. Hamas later confirmed his death.

Host of “Life, Liberty & Levin” Mark Levin on Saturday called for the U.S. to help overthrow Iran’s ruling regime without deploying American ground troops.

“We must help liberate the Iranian people, and we can do it,” Levin wrote on X. “We can do it without our troops on the ground. Without a forever war.”

Levin said the U.S. should “train,” “arm” and “support” Iranians opposed to the government in Tehran.

“The regime must be destroyed. The time is now,” he added.

The comments come as tensions remain high across the Middle East following weeks of fighting involving Iran, Israel and the United States.

Iran’s foreign ministry on Saturday condemned the killing of Hamas military wing leader Izz al-Din al-Haddad in an Israeli strike in Gaza.

In a statement posted by Iranian diplomatic accounts, Tehran accused Israel of carrying out a “terrorist” assassination and offered condolences over the deaths of al-Haddad and members of his family.

Israel said al-Haddad, who led Hamas’ military wing, was one of the remaining architects of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that sparked the war.

The Israeli military said al-Haddad was killed Friday in Gaza, while Hamas later confirmed his death.

Iran’s statement praised al-Haddad and framed his death as part of what it described as the Palestinian “resistance” against Israel.

The comments come as tensions remain high across the Middle East amid ongoing fighting in Gaza and wider regional conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States under Operation Epic Fury.

Iran will reopen its stock market on Tuesday after suspending trading during the country’s conflict with the U.S. and Israel, according to Iranian state media.

IRNA reported Saturday that the suspension was intended to protect investors and avoid panic-driven market activity during the fighting.

“The suspension of stock market activities from the start of the war was aimed at protecting shareholders’ assets, preventing panic-driven trading and allowing for more transparent pricing conditions,” Hamid Yari, deputy supervisor at Iran’s Securities and Exchange Organization, said, according to IRNA.

“Now, with the reopening of the stock market, we will see the full resumption of all capital market sectors,” he added.

The announcement comes as tensions remain elevated across the region following weeks of military conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States.

President Donald Trump said Friday following meetings in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping that Iran “cannot have a nuclear weapon” and warned Tehran to make a deal.

Oil prices have remained volatile amid concerns over shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy corridor. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday the strait was “closed only to our enemies,” according to the dpa news agency.

Reuters contributed to this reporting.

The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its role in Operation Epic Fury, according to a citation shared Saturday by the Department of War’s Rapid Response account.

The citation, issued by the acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao on behalf of President Trump, recognized Carrier Strike Group Twelve for “outstanding performance in action against enemy forces” from Feb. 28 through May 1, 2026.

According to the citation, the strike group conducted sustained combat operations against Iran, including maritime strike missions and precision attacks targeting Iranian military infrastructure.

The document states that the USS Gerald R. Ford, Carrier Air Wing Eight, Destroyer Squadron Two and USS Winston S. Churchill coordinated operations that included 207 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile strikes launched from nine surface combatants.

The citation also said Task Force 58 carried out more than 1,700 combat air sorties from the Mediterranean and Red Sea, delivering “precision effects against 700 targets in order to degrade enemy warfighting capability.”

“The Strike Group protected vital sea lines of communication while under persistent threat from enemy missiles and one-way attack drones,” the citation read.

Video shared online showed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth presenting the framed citation aboard ship while welcoming sailors home following the carrier strike group’s 11-month deployment.

“Congratulations, Godspeed, and welcome home,” Hegseth said to thunderous applause onboard the USS Gerald R. Ford.

Entrepreneur Shervin Pishevar led a moment of silence for Iranians killed under the regime during a “Tech X Future of Iran” summit attended by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.

Iranian entrepreneurs, engineers and investors gathered at Uber headquarters in San Francisco on Saturday for a “Tech X Future of Iran” summit focused on rebuilding the country following the fall of the current regime in Tehran.

Video posted online by entrepreneur Nima Yamini showed businessman Shervin Pishevar addressing a packed room beneath a large screen displaying the lion-and-sun Iranian flag alongside the words “Tech X Future of IRAN.”

“First of all, I want to open with a moment of silence for our great Iranians who have lost their lives for a freedom that they wouldn’t even face,” Pishevar told attendees before asking the crowd to join him in silence.

Yamini described the gathering as a “historic moment at Uber HQ in San Francisco” and said Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi attended the summit alongside Iranian tech and business leaders.

“A room packed with Iranian entrepreneurs, engineers, and investors talking about rebuilding a free future,” Yamini wrote on X.

The event came as anti-regime demonstrations unfolded elsewhere across America, including a large “Free Iran” rally and march in Washington, D.C.

Iranian opposition supporters flooded the streets near Capitol Hill on Saturday as a “Free Iran” march got underway in Washington, D.C., with demonstrators waving green, white and red Iranian flags and calling for regime change in Tehran.

Large crowds marched behind a massive yellow banner reading, “IRAN: Support Maryam Rajavi’s Provisional Government for a Democratic Republic Toward Peace and Freedom,” as supporters moved through downtown streets near the U.S. Capitol and World War I Memorial.

Many demonstrators wore yellow hats and shirts while carrying flags associated with the National Council of Resistance of Iran and other Iranian opposition groups. Signs in the crowd read “Stop Executions in Iran” and “No Shah No Mullahs,” reflecting opposition both to Iran’s current Islamic regime and to a return of the monarchy.

The march came as Iranian American activists and opposition supporters gathered in the nation’s capital to urge U.S. policymakers and world leaders to condemn political executions and crackdowns inside Iran.

Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark, a former NATO commander, told the crowd gathered Saturday for the Free Iran Rally in Washington, D.C., that the Iranian regime is “crumbling under fear, and you and the MEK must put it to rest.”

“Iran is a great nation, it’s a great people, a historic civilization held captive by a small band of zealots, who are ruthless, cruel, and determined to loot the oil wealth of Iran for their own purposes,” Clark said. 

“The freedoms we take for granted in the United States, they are not there in Iran,” he added. “Instead, they are suffering under a regime that believes in mass incarceration, shooting people in the streets, arrests, torture, hanging, killing some of the best young people in the country.” 

“It is a desperate regime, it is a regime that is crumbling under fear, and you and the MEK must put it to rest,” Clark said, referencing the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian exile organization.   

Keemia Aria, an Iranian American and biology student at the University of Houston, told supporters at the Free Iran Rally in Washington, D.C., on Saturday that Iranian youth are “tearing apart the walls of tyranny” imposed by the regime. 

“I am here because I am standing in solidarity with the courageous youth of Iran, especially the young women and girls who rose up during the January 2026 protests when Iranian authorities carried out brutal massacres against protesters,” Aria said. “I find myself here in the U.S. with the privilege to speak about their stories as they right now face the violence of the IRGC.” 

“They stand with courage, raise their voices and fight with the hope of a different future. The Iranian youth are at the forefront, tearing apart the walls of tyranny. And at the heart of this movement are women,” she continued. 

“For decades, women in the Iranian resistance have refused to accept the culture of submission imposed first by the Shah’s dictatorship and later by the ruling mullahs. Under the leadership of Maryam Rajavi, thousands of young Iranian women have been encouraged to believe in themselves as leaders of change. They’ve challenged misogyny, they’ve challenged dictatorship, and they have demonstrated the pivotal role women play standing at the front lines in the struggle for freedom,” Aria added. 

Rajavi is the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran organization, one of the organizers of Saturday’s rally and march.

A Muslim scholar who was forced to flee Egypt after criticizing Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks is warning America’s far left that its alliance with Islamist extremism could end the same way Iran’s did in 1979 — with an Islamic regime seizing power after partnering with leftist factions.

Dalia Ziada, a Middle East scholar and Washington, D.C.-based coordinator at the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, later relocated to the United States and said she is now seeing similar and troubling dynamics take shape here.

Her warning comes as a global network of anti-Israel activist groups is mobilizing coordinated “Nakba 78” protests across the United States and around the world this weekend, with organizers using the anniversary of Israel’s founding to stage demonstrations that critics say challenge the Jewish state’s legitimacy, and, in some cases, call for its dismantling.

“For five or seven years now, we have been seeing some kind of a ‘sinful marriage’ between the radical left and the radical Islamism, the groups that hate Western liberal democracies and desire to destroy them,” she told Fox News Digital.

Ziada said Islamist movements, including groups tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, have for years sought to use the Palestinian cause as a way to mobilize support and build alliances with other activist movements in the West, a phenomenon some analysts have described as a “red–green alliance.

She also argued that Islamist movements have increasingly targeted Jewish communities in the West, which she described as a “pillar” supporting liberal democratic systems.

“They agree on one thing, that they need to destroy the West as we know it today and replace it with something else. For the radicalists, they want to replace it with the Marxist system. For the Islamists, they want to replace it with an Islamist system, which they think is the ideal system,” she said.

Carla Sands, a former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, told a crowd of supporters gathered for the Free Iran Rally in Washington, D.C., on Saturday that the “regime is back on its heels.” 

“Freedom has never been granted willingly by tyrants. It is always required the sacrifice from men and women prepared to stand against oppression, regardless of the cost,” she said. 

“And that spirit lives today in Iran, and nowhere is it more organized, more disciplined, or more persistent than within the National Council of Resistance of Iran, led by the NCRI and the MEK,” she continued, naming the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian exile organization. 

“The existence of a democratic alternative destroys the false narrative that the world only has two choices: the mullahs or chaos. The Iranian resistance has shattered this lie,” Sands said. “And let’s be honest, what exists here is historically unique. Where else do we see a resistance movement with a clear democratic platform, a structured coalition, a commitment to free elections, separation of religion and state, gender equality, minority rights and a non-nuclear Iran?” 

“Where else do we see women leading at every level of the movement? And where else do we see an organized network inside the country capable of mobilizing resistance under conditions of  brutal repression?” she continued. “And this movement didn’t appear overnight. It survived massacres. It survived execution. It has survived terrorism. It survived demonization campaigns spanning decades. And today it stands stronger, more experienced and more credible than ever before.” 

Sands also said the future of Iran “must belong to the Iranian people.” 

“The United States must treat the Iranian resistance as an irreplaceable ally and recognize the right of the Iranian people to resist tyranny. America and the Western world should recognize the legitimacy of the resistance units confronting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the machinery of repression,” she declared.  

Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., told a crowd gathered Saturday in Washington for a march against the Iranian regime that the “Cause of freedom is alive, is organized and is advancing.” 

“Good to see so many people out here in our nation’s capital, which is a symbol of democracy all around the world. And how appropriate it is that we’re here celebrating democracy in the longest democracy in the world and about to celebrate the future of democracy in a liberated Tehran,” Kennedy said. 

“So it’s an immense privilege for me to stand with you today for the Free Iran march here in Washington. It’s a declaration that you have not surrendered, and that tyranny has not prevailed, and that the cause of freedom is alive, is organized and is advancing,” he continued. 

“We are obviously in a moment of history shaped by people who refuse to bow,” Kennedy added. “And by a movement that refuses to abandon its ideals. Your message today is unmistakable. There is a democratic alternative to the religious fascism ruling Iran.” 

A crowd is gathering in Washington, D.C., on Saturday for a march against the Iranian regime, chanting, “we want justice, we want peace, free Iran, we insist!” 

“Regime change in Iran by the people of Iran!” and “stop executions in Iran, now, now, now!” the crowd also was heard chanting ahead of a planned march in the nation’s capital. 

The National Council of Resistance of Iran said it expecting thousands of supporters to gather for the rally and march. 

“The event, organized under the banner of stopping the regime’s surge in executions and supporting the Iranian people’s resistance, is expected to draw thousands of people demanding international action against the terrorist regime ruling Iran,” it said. 

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told sailors from the USS Bainbridge Saturday that “you made a nation proud” after the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group returned to Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia following an 11-month deployment. 

“To the Bainbridge, welcome home, job well done. On behalf of President Trump, from my wife Jennifer and I, it is an absolute honor to be in your presence,” Hegseth said in a video released by the Department of War. 

“To have an opportunity to welcome you home from this historic mission. To look out at your families who served alongside you, who were there, had your back and ensure that you could do your job. You didn’t just accomplish a mission, you made history, you made a nation proud, you showed the world what American strength is all about,” he added.  

The Department of War said the carrier strike group contained nearly 4,500 sailors and came home after an 11-month deployment, which included support of Operation Epic Fury against Iran. 

“You sailed to the Middle East to be a part of a historic mission, Operation Epic Fury, where you showed the world on behalf of President Trump, that we will not allow the world’s most desperate and dangerous regimes to obtain the most dangerous weapons in the world, to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.” 

Returning ships included the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) and USS Mahan (DDG 72). 

FIFA Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom will meet Saturday with officials from Iran’s soccer federation in Turkey to offer “reassurance” about Iran’s participation in the upcoming World Cup, a source told Reuters. 

The World Cup is hosted this year by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and the Iranian national soccer team is set to play three matches against New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt in Los Angeles and Seattle in June.  

“The Iranian national football team has earned its right to participate on the field in accordance with FIFA regulations,” Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, wrote on X this week. 

“Any obstruction to the entry of players, technical staff, federation officials, or essential members of the Iranian delegation would violate the spirit and purpose of the World Cup and contradict the fundamental principles governing international sport, including equality, non-discrimination, and the neutrality of competition,” he added. 

In March, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, “The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.”

Iraq exported 10 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz in April, down from about 93 million monthly before the war against Iran, a report said. 

“Exports through the Strait of Hormuz are low and depend on the arrival of oil tankers, which are not entering because of ⁠insurance” Iraqi oil minister Basim Mohammed said on Saturday, according to Reuters.  

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil prices rising globally. 

The U.S. military imposed a blockade on Iranian ports on April 13. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said “”From our point of view, the Strait of Hormuz is not closed, particularly not to friendly nations,” but “It is closed only to our enemies.” 

Araghchi made the remark Friday on the sidelines of a BRICS meeting in New Delhi, India, according to the dpa news agency. 

Araghchi added Friday that Tehran has “no trust to Americans,” which is the “main obstacle in the way of any diplomatic effort.”   

“We are interested in negotiation, but only if the other side is serious,” he said. “We have no trust to Americans. This is a fact. And this is the main obstacle in the way of any diplomatic effort. I think all of you know that we have every reason not to trust Americans, while they have no reason not to trust us.”  

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi claimed economic woes are coming for the U.S. after it launched a “war of choice on Iran.”

“Americans are told that they must absorb rocketing costs of war of choice on Iran,” he wrote on X on Friday.

“Put aside gas price hike and stock market bubble. Real pain begins when U.S. debt and mortgage rates start to jump,” he added. “This was all avoidable.”

The comments come as oil prices remain elevated with tensions high in the Strait of Hormuz.

A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces announced Saturday that the IDF has started “attacking infrastructure belonging to the terrorist [group] Hezbollah in several areas in southern Lebanon” following a “violation of the ceasefire agreement.” 

The development comes despite Israel and Lebanon reaching a 45-day ceasefire extension on Friday, according to the State Department. 

Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group have been trading fire in recent days. On Thursday, the IDF said multiple Israelis were injured when an “explosive drone” launched by Hezbollah fell in Israeli territory near the border with Lebanon. 

“On May 14 and 15, the United States facilitated two days of constructive talks between the State of Israel and the Republic of Lebanon at the Department of State,” State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott said Friday. “The two countries agreed upon a framework for negotiations to advance lasting peace between the two countries, full recognition of each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and establishing genuine security along their shared border.” 

The National Council of Resistance of Iran is expecting thousands of supporters to gather in Washington, D.C., on Saturday for a rally in opposition of the regime in Tehran. 

“The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) office in the United States and diaspora activists are preparing for a high-profile demonstration in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, May 16, 2026, directly in Upper Senate Park, next to the U.S. Capitol,” the organization wrote on its website.  

“The event, organized under the banner of stopping the regime’s surge in executions and supporting the Iranian people’s resistance, is expected to draw thousands of people demanding international action against the terrorist regime ruling Iran,” it added. 

Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark, a former NATO commander, Carla Sands, a former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, and former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., are expected to speak at the demonstration. 

The Israel Defense Forces announced Saturday that Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the head of Hamas’ military wing and “one of the architects of the brutal October 7th massacre,” was eliminated Friday in a “precise strike” in Gaza. 

“This is a significant operational achievement by the IDF, led by the Southern Command, IDF intelligence, the Israeli Air Force, and the Israeli Security Agency,” IDF Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said in a statement. “In every conversation I held with the hostages who returned, the name of the arch-terrorist Izz al-Din al-Haddad, one of the chief perpetrators of the October 7th massacre and the head of Hamas’ military wing, came up again and again.” 

“Today, we succeeded in eliminating him. The IDF will continue to pursue our enemies, strike them, and hold accountable everyone who took part in the October 7th massacre. We will not relent until we reach them all – this is our duty to all those who returned and to all citizens of the State of Israel,” he added. 

The IDF described Haddad as one of the longest-serving commanders in Hamas, having joined the Palestinian terrorist group in its early establishment. 

“Haddad assumed his role following the elimination of Mohammed Sinwar, and over the recent period, worked to rebuild the capabilities of the terrorist organization’s military wing and to plan numerous terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops,” the IDF said. 

“Throughout the war, Haddad was involved in the holding of many Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity. Haddad managed Hamas’ hostage captivity system and surrounded himself with hostages in an attempt to prevent his elimination,” it added. 

“Throughout his time in the terrorist organization, Haddad played a central role in Hamas’ terrorist rule and held a number of senior positions, such as the commander of the Gaza City Brigade and commander of additional units,” the IDF also said. 

Fox News’ Yonat Friling contributed to this report. 

Iranian media reporting on President Donald Trump’s state visit to Beijing signaled frustration among the country’s leaders, who are voicing concerns that further confrontation with Washington could unfold.

Part of Tehran’s disappointment stems from signs that Trump does not want to seek China’s help on Iran, reported Iran International, a London-based, Persian-language satellite television channel.

Meanwhile, Beijing appears unwilling to intervene in the conflict unless its own strategic and economic interests are directly threatened, the channel reported.

President Donald Trump reiterated his position that Iran cannot possess a nuclear weapon following his state visit to Beijing.

Trump noted that Tehran has “no deck” of cards to negotiate with during meetings between U.S. and Iranian officials in Pakistan.

“We really had the confines of a deal; no nuclear, they were going to give us the dust… and every time they’d make a deal, the next day it’s like we didn’t have that conversation, and that’s taken place about five times,” Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier from Beijing.

“There’s something wrong with them, and actually, they’re crazy, and you know what? Because of that, they cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump added.

Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping agrees that Iran should not be able to possess a nuclear weapon.

“He would like to help… but we don’t need help,” Trump said. “You know the problem with help? When somebody helps you, they always want something on the other side. That’s the way help works.”

Yesterday’s Fox News Digital liveblog has additional coverage of the Iran conflict.