A U-Haul truck drove into a crowd of demonstrators Sunday afternoon during and anti-Iranian regime protest in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The van carried a message referencing a pivotal event in Iranian history, the 1953 coup d’état in Iran. The banner on the side of the truck declared “NO SHAH. NO REGIME. USA: DON’T REPEAT 1953. NO MULLAH.”
Read more: Videos show police detaining driver at LA anti-Iranian regime protest
What happened in 1953?
In August of 1953, the democratically elected prime minister of Iran, Mohammad Mossadegh, was overthrown in a coup orchestrated by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Britain's MI6. The operation was known as Operation Ajax.
The coup removed Mossadegh following his decision to nationalize Iran's oil industry and restored the authority of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Iran's opposition movements and many diaspora activists continue to reference 1953 as an emblem of foreign interference and the need for sovereign political reform without external meddling.
{{/usCountry}}Iran's opposition movements and many diaspora activists continue to reference 1953 as an emblem of foreign interference and the need for sovereign political reform without external meddling.
{{/usCountry}}The 1953 coup then led to decades of monarchical rule under the Shah. The Shah harbored distrust toward Western powers and then ultimately contributed to the 1979 Islamic Revolution that established the current theocratic rule.
Truck ramming incident at Westwood rally
On Sunday afternoon near the Wilshire Federal Building in Westwood, Los Angeles hundreds had gathered to show support for ongoing protests in Iran.
According to reports, a U-Haul truck suddenly rammed into the crowd of demonstrators, scattering people and sparking chaos.
The U-Haul was surrounded by a sizable crowd when AIR7 got on the scene just before 3:30 p.m. Tensions rapidly increased as some demonstrators were seen destroying windows.
A man was eventually removed from the U-Haul and seemed to be taken into custody by the local law authorities. Some protestors were seen attempting to punch and strike the man with flag poles as police escorted him away.
Read more: Los Angeles: U-Haul driver plows into protesters in Westwood, video surfaces
Why the protests in Iran?
Iran's theocracy is under strain as a result of widespread protests caused by the country's struggling economy, which has shut down the country's phone and internet networks.
The United States bombed Iranian nuclear sites during a 12-day war that Israel started in June. Tehran is still recovering from the shock. Iran's rial currency is currently trading at over 1.4 million to $1 due to economic pressure that has increased since September, when the UN reimposed sanctions on the nation over its nuclear program.
Since the Israel-Hamas conflict began in 2023, Iran's self-described “Axis of Resistance,” a coalition of nations and armed organizations supported by Tehran, has been destroyed.
After the capture of Tehran's long-time ally, Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, U.S. President Trump warned Iran that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters, the U.S. will come to their rescue.”