These North Texas residents are headed to New York to rally for change in Iran

September 22, 2025; Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Fereshteh Asadian dreams of her homeland of Iran when she goes to sleep at night.

Her family came to the U.S. in 1977 for better educational opportunities.

The last time the 68-year-old, who lives in Fort Worth, visited Iran was in 1979 after the Iranian Revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since then, she has not seen many members of her family, has missed holiday and cultural events, and missed the funeral for her father, she says holding back tears.

The oppressive regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran has kept her away. The regime has been accused of discrimination, human rights abuses, and suppression of dissenters, which has led to hundreds of thousands of Iranians fleeing since 1979.

Still, Asadian wishes she could go back.

“I don’t know a majority of my family now because they were born, they grew up, they got married, and they have children,” Asadian said. “Yeah, it is very hard.”

The Islamic Republic’s President Masoud Pezeshkian will visit the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 23, in New York City and will be met by thousands of protestors.

Asadian, along with about 50 people from the Iranian American Community of North Texas, a non-profit organization serving the Iranian Community in North Texas, plans to represent the nearly 30,000 Iranian Americans in North Texas in the rally against the Iranian regime.

The rally in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza will highlight the global impact of Iran’s actions, including its state-sponsored terrorism, nuclear ambitions, and human rights abuses, according to Homeira Hesami, chairwoman of the Iranian American Community of North Texas. The rally is sponsored by the Organization of Iranian American Communities, Iranian American Communities in 46 states, and the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

The 80th UN General Assembly, which is the main legislative and policymaking body of the United Nations, allows UN members to speak on pressing issues including poverty, climate change, and global health. Pezeshkian is expected to speak about Iran’s nuclear program, which was attacked on June 13 by Israel and led to an armed conflict known as the Twelve-Day War.

Protesters seek a peaceful regime change in Iran

On Sept. 6, a rally was held in Brussels, where thousands gathered to announce their support of a regime change brought by the Iranian people and not by war or appeasement.
“We have to rely on the people of Iran to change their own destiny,” Hesami said.
The rally in New York City will be a continuation of the rally in Brussels to demand a regime change and ask the UN to impose sanctions against Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian officials.

MJ, who did not want to disclose her last name in fear of retaliation against her family, which is still in Iran, lives in Plano and will attend the rally. She said she and many Iranian Americans have had their families threatened by Iranian intelligence officers because they have attended protest.

But MJ said she is not deterred and is driven by the peace a regime change would bring. She and other Iranian Americans who will be in New York City will fight for Iranians to have a free and secular government that is based on the rule of the people and not a single political party, she said.

“One of the main reasons for us getting together over there, is just to be voice of Iranian people inside Iran, and let all of the world know that we are their voice, and people around the world can hear them,” MJ said.