A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Iranian Americans in Los Angeles celebrated over the weekend after coordinated airstrikes from the U.S. and Israel killed Iran's supreme leader on Saturday. Los Angeles has the largest number of Iranians in the U.S. Many fled there after the 1979 revolution that was the origin of the Islamic Republic. Kelly McEvers has been covering the celebrations and the conversations that Iranian Americans are having about what could come next in Iran. So, Kelly, what was it like in LA?
KELLY MCEVERS, BYLINE: I went to a part of the city where there's this concentration of Iranian businesses. It's called Persian Square. People filled this one really big intersection. They were waving historic Iranian flags. Not the current flag of Iran, which is the flag of the Islamic Republic, but the flag from the time of the shah or the former monarch - before 1979. It has this lion in front of a rising sun and has red and green stripes. There were food trucks selling juice and kebabs, a plane flying overhead with a banner that said, thank you, Trump, from Iranian people. And there were people wearing MIGA hats. That stands for Make Iran Great Again.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow. OK. So what kind of messages were you hearing?
MCEVERS: Well, first off, people were quick to say they weren't there to celebrate the war. There was a moment of silence for U.S. soldiers who have been killed. They were there to celebrate the killing of Iran's supreme leader and what they said was a chance that there might be change in Iran. Here's one of the speakers.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: For 47 years, this has felt immovable, and yet here we stand. History does not move often. This is our opportunity.
MCEVERS: The event was organized by supporters of Reza Pahlavi. He is the eldest son of the former Shah of Iran. He's based here in the U.S. He is someone who people here are talking about as a possible transitional leader in Iran. That is, of course, if the current regime should fall. And so far - let's be clear - there's no sign that is happening. But Pahlavi and a group of advisers have written out this really detailed plan. It's called the Iran Prosperity Project, and it details how they would handle a transition in Iran if they were given the chance, where Pahlavi would be kind of a caretaker leader until the country could have elections. I talked to one of the authors of the plan, and he said that phase would last about six months.
MARTÍNEZ: Six months. OK. What is it about Pahlavi that brought so many people out?
MCEVERS: Well, I talked to this one woman there. Her name is Thea Adivi, and she came here to the U.S. 10 years ago. Her mother and brothers and sister are still in Iran. Two of her cousins were killed during the massive protests in January. And she was crying when she was talking to me. I mean, she says things are so bad in Iran right now, people have hit rock bottom. So they look back to the time of the shah as a better time, even though she admits that that time was not perfect. Here she is.
THEA ADIVI: It wasn't perfect. There was problems. But it wasn't as bad as now. Like, the people who got killed - the young people, their biggest dream was to get a iPhone, which is, like - which is ridiculous.
MCEVERS: What she's saying is young people who protested over not being able to afford things like a phone were killed for that in Iran. And so now people just have hope in the idea of a new regime. But I will also say other Iranians here are very skeptical about Pahlavi. People say he's not inclusive of other voices in the opposition and that he stands to gain personally if the country chooses a constitutional monarchy. So while this was a very high-profile celebration on Sunday, it was definitely not representative of all opinions. And I should say, a lot more rallies are planned around the country - some for and some against the U.S. and Israel's war in Iran.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's Kelly McEvers in Los Angeles. Kelly, thanks.
MCEVERS: You're welcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF AMERICAN FOOTBALL'S "THE ONE WITH THE WURLITZER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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