“Trump, Act Now”: Fifth Avenue Becomes a Stage for Exiled Fury as Iranian Dissidents Demand an End to Tehran’s Rule

By: Fern Sidman

Under a cloudless New York sky and the muted elegance of the Upper East Side, Fifth Avenue became an unlikely theater of geopolitical urgency on Saturday afternoon. Echoing between limestone façades and museum walls, chants of “Trump, act now!” rang out as hundreds of demonstrators gathered to denounce Iran’s ruling theocracy and implore the United States to intervene against a regime they describe as murderous, illegitimate, and irredeemable. As reported on Saturday by Fox News Digital, the protest was both a lament for lives lost inside Iran and a plea for decisive action from Washington at a moment of escalating tension between the two nations.

The demonstrators assembled directly across the street from the official residence of Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, transforming one of Manhattan’s most discreet diplomatic outposts into a focal point of raw political anger. For hours, protestors waved placards, unfurled banners, and delivered impassioned speeches condemning what they see as decades of repression by the Islamic Republic. The Fox News Digital report noted that the rally drew Iranian expatriates, human rights activists, and supporters of Iran’s exiled royal family, all united by a single demand: the collapse of the regime in Tehran.

“We want freedom for the Iranian people,” said Sarah Shahi, one of the demonstrators, speaking to Fox News Digital amid the steady drumbeat of chants. “We want this theocracy that has been taking people’s rights away to be taken out with whatever means necessary. We need help when so many people have been killed.” Her words captured the prevailing mood of the protest—a mixture of desperation and defiance forged by years of watching unrest inside Iran met with lethal force.

The location itself carried a heavy symbolism. The ornate 19th-century limestone townhouse, now serving as the home of Iran’s U.N. ambassador, was originally purchased by the Iranian government during the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah who ruled from 1941 until his overthrow in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Since then, the building has quietly housed successive representatives of a regime that defines itself in opposition to the West. Fox News Digital reported that protests at the site have historically been rare, lending Saturday’s demonstration an added sense of rupture.

Sometime overnight before the rally, the building’s façade had been defaced with graffiti reading “terrorists” and “killers,” stark words scrawled against the refined stonework. By daylight, police had cordoned off parts of the sidewalk as officers monitored the gathering. The juxtaposition was striking: a residence nestled among some of the most exclusive addresses in New York City, diagonally across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and just steps from the former home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, now serving as a lightning rod for anger directed at a distant regime.

One protester held aloft a sign bearing a photograph of Iran’s current U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, emblazoned with the words “A terrorist lives here.” Speaking to Fox News Digital, Shahi explained the choice of venue with blunt clarity. “For the people of the Islamic Republic to be residing here is just so unjust,” she said. “But it is the closest thing we have to an embassy.” Because Iran and the United States severed diplomatic relations more than four decades ago, the townhouse remains the only Iranian government–owned property on American soil, rendering it a symbolic stand-in for a regime protesters otherwise cannot directly confront.

The demonstration unfolded against a backdrop of rising international stakes. Fox News Digital reported that President Trump has ordered U.S. warships to move within striking distance of Iran as he weighs potential military options targeting Tehran’s nuclear facilities, oil infrastructure, and military assets. The buildup reflects mounting frustration within the administration over Iran’s continued support for terrorism and its brutal suppression of domestic dissent.

According to estimates frequently cited by Iranian opposition groups and echoed by Fox News Digital, as many as 30,000 people may have been killed over the years for participating in anti-regime protests inside Iran. These figures, while difficult to independently verify, underscore the scale of the violence alleged by critics of the Islamic Republic. Demonstrators in Manhattan repeatedly referenced images and videos smuggled out of Iran, depicting security forces firing on crowds, detaining protesters, and imposing sweeping internet blackouts to stifle dissent.

Many of those gathered on Fifth Avenue described themselves as supporters of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late shah, who has emerged in recent weeks as a vocal critic of the current regime. Pahlavi has lived in exile for 47 years, ever since his father fled Iran as revolutionary forces ushered in the anti-American clerical government that has ruled ever since. Pahlavi has intensified his public advocacy as Iran’s latest wave of protests has been met with what he calls “barbaric” repression.

The chants in Manhattan mirrored those heard in Iranian cities where demonstrators have risked their lives to demand change. Signs held high read “End the regime in Iran,” “No to the Islamic Republic regime,” and “Make Iran Great Again,” blending echoes of American political slogans with a distinctly Iranian longing for national renewal. Other placards declared, “Brave Iranians are fighting on the ground. The U.S. and Israel must act against a common enemy now.” Fox News Digital reported that the demonstrators framed the struggle not as a regional conflict, but as a broader confrontation between democratic values and authoritarian theocracy.

Despite the intensity of the rhetoric, the protest remained largely peaceful, with organizers urging participants to channel their anger into visibility rather than violence. Still, the emotional charge was unmistakable. For many in attendance, the rally was not merely an act of political expression but a surrogate for the protests they cannot safely join in their homeland. Fox News Digital spoke with several demonstrators who said they have family members still living in Iran and who fear for their safety each time unrest erupts.

The call for U.S. military action formed the rally’s most controversial refrain. Protesters said they believe only decisive intervention from Washington can tip the balance against Tehran’s entrenched security apparatus. “We are waiting for President Trump to take military action against the regime so that the nation can finally taste freedom,” one demonstrator told Fox News Digital, echoing a sentiment repeated throughout the afternoon. For critics of intervention, such demands raise concerns about escalation and unintended consequences. For those on Fifth Avenue, however, the calculus was stark: continued inaction, they argued, guarantees continued bloodshed.

The Fox News Digital report contextualized the demonstration within a broader pattern of Iranian opposition activity in the diaspora, noting that similar rallies have taken place in Los Angeles, Paris, and London. Yet the New York protest carried particular resonance given its proximity to the United Nations, an institution protesters accused of failing to hold Iran accountable. Several speakers condemned what they described as the international community’s willingness to engage diplomatically with Tehran despite its human rights record.

As the afternoon wore on, the chants grew hoarser but no less resolute. Passersby paused to watch, some offering gestures of support, others hurrying past the spectacle. Police gradually began to thin the crowd as demonstrators dispersed, leaving behind only the echoes of slogans and the stark graffiti on the ambassador’s residence—a visual reminder of passions that show no sign of abating.

For Fox News Digital, the protest offered a window into the enduring fury of a diaspora that refuses to forget the circumstances of its exile. It also underscored the ways in which global crises increasingly play out on local streets, transforming quiet corners of American cities into stages for international confrontation. Whether President Trump’s military posturing will translate into action remains uncertain. What is clear, however, is that for those gathered on Fifth Avenue, patience has long since run out.

As the demonstrators departed, many vowed to return, insisting that silence is no longer an option while Iranians continue to die in the streets of their own cities. In that sense, the rally was less a single event than a declaration of persistence—a promise that the struggle against Tehran’s rulers will be waged wherever Iranians can raise their voices, even beneath the shadow of Manhattan’s most storied landmarks.