About 40 protesters gathered at the University of Iowa Pentecrest to denounce the United States and Israel’s joint strike on Iran on Feb. 28, resulting in hundreds of casualties and the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The protest was assembled by the Revolutionary Communists of America in collaboration with other left-wing organizations in Johnson County, such as Iowa City Action for Palestine and Young Democratic Socialists of America. The Revolutionary Communists of America is a national organization with a chapter located in Iowa City, with the goal of recruiting members to build a larger network representing working-class and anti-capitalist interests.

The attack, referred to as Operation ROARING LION and EPIC FURY by Israel and the U.S., respectively, has initiated a war with Iran. The intention of the “major combat operation” is to eliminate the nation’s military and missile capacities and to overthrow the current regime.

According to AP News, the Israel-U.S. strikes on Iran marked the end of weeks of indirect peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. The attack led to hundreds of civilian casualties and injuries, including the death of 115 people when a girls’ elementary school was bombed.

Reactions from citizens to Khamenei’s death have varied, with reports of Iranians mourning, as well as many celebrating.

Protests have arisen throughout the nation condemning these attacks, according to BBC News, criticizing the U.S. for its continued allegiance to Israel, and for violating international peace laws. Congress also did not approve the strikes before being launched by President Donald Trump and the Department of Defense’s forces.

Jonah Cornelisse, a first-year student at the UI and an organizer with the Revolutionary Communist of America, helped arrange the event. At the protest, he encouraged attendees to speak and vocalize their opposition to the U.S.’s attack on Iran. Cornelisse said protests like this serve as an important beginning to large, effective movements.

“A lot of people woke up and got the news that the U.S. has just flagrantly attacked Iran. We knew that something should be organized in Iowa City,” Cornelisse said. “We reached out to other groups and got it promoted, just to show that workers in Iowa City and workers across the U.S. and across the world have no interest in imperialist wars like this.”

The crowd continued to grow despite the snow, with cars honking in support throughout the protest. Protesters waved Palestine and communist flags and held signs denouncing the “war industry” and calling for peace.

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Iowa City resident Nicole Yeager, 31, attended the protest with her son, Danny. She said she was hesitant to bring him, but decided to show him the importance of coming together as a community during times of uncertainty and fear.

“Putting our words on a sign, coming out, and standing with our neighbors shows that we can keep having these conversations,” Yeager said. “I honestly, really feared my kid would hear about this at school because elementary kids talk about this stuff too, so it’s not like I can keep my kid in a vacuum and he would never learn about this. I like that he can hear about it here, we can keep the conversation going at the kitchen table later, and I’m sure we’ll continue with other actions as well.”

UI Ph.D. student Uche Anomnachi, an organizer with Iowa City Action for Palestine, spoke to the crowd and led them in chants condemning the institutions that contribute to wars.

After the Revolutionary Communists for America reached out, the group immediately mobilized to participate in the protest, Anomnachi said.

Anomnachi held a sign demanding that the UI cut ties with Collins Aerospace, an aviation and defense technology company that contributes components for weaponry and aircraft to the military.

Anomnachi criticized the use of tax dollars to support the war against Iran, as well as the UI for its ties with Collins Aerospace through the College of Engineering.

“For people who were just watching or passers by, I want them to know that people are pissed,” Anomnachi said. “Education should be something that is wholly good, and that the University of Iowa specifically perverts that mission by crawling into bed with weapons manufacturers. They turn students into the cogs and the gears of the war machine. I would love people to wake up to that, and then, once they realize, I want them to be mad about it, too.”

Cedar Rapids resident Nathan Giddings, 27, and Revolutionary Communists for America member, said the attack on Iran has created the potential for a humanitarian catastrophe without a plan to protect the Iranian people, or for its future beyond the toppling of its government.

Giddings said that the money spent on these attacks could instead be spent on domestic needs, such as health care and employment opportunities.

He said he hopes that the message of class mobilization, echoed throughout the protest, resonates with people, as the U.S. furthers its political and economic investment in the war.

Giddings said politicians’ decisions do not follow the wishes of the American people.

“People look at the billionaires, they look at their politicians, and the Republican and the Democratic parties, and they instinctively feel they are from a different planet, that they don’t represent us,” Giddings said.