Pro-Palestine protesters march to US Consulate in Melbourne

Swarms of pro-Palestine protesters have taken to the streets of Melbourne in the wake of America’s bombing of Iran, marching to the US Consulate.

Protesters march down St Kilda Road after the US bombed Iran. Picture: Ian Currie

Swarms of pro-Palestine protesters marched along St Kilda Rd to the US Consulate to denounce the bombing of Iran.

Hundreds gathered at Swanston St on Sunday afternoon to demonstrate, with a heavy police presence in force along the busy strip.

The group marched from the State Library to the US Consulate on St Kilda Rd, chanting “free, free Palestine” and waving signs and banners, sparking traffic chaos.

Students for Palestine Iranian socialist Bella Beiraghi delivered a passionate plea to the crowd, calling out the Israeli and US governments for “recycling 20-year-old lies” about Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

Protesters marched down St Kilda Rd to the US Consulate in the wake of the Iran bombing.

“They say that Iran is a mortal threat to the region, but if you just look over the past 20 months of genocide in Gaza, you can see who the real threat to the region is; it’s Israel and America,” she said.

The 23-year-old activist said the US had created a world order based on “might is right and terror reigns supreme” for the past 80 years.

“Donald Trump today said ‘victory to the American military, haven’t we done our job right’,” she said.

“So, I think it’s pretty obvious that when people speak about the international rules based order, when they say that there is some semblance of justice, we know what they mean by that; their rules based order, based on the Western imperialist alliance.”

Ms Beiraghi also slammed the Albanese government for being “complicit” in the genocide in Gaza by “hitching its wagon to America”.

“They’re trying to normalise a new level of terror (and) brutality in the Middle East,” she added.

There was a heavy police presence as protesters made their way down St Kilda Rd. Picture: Ian Currie

Protesters march down St Kilda Road in Melbourne as conflict continues in the Middle East between Israel and Iran. The US bombed Iran this morning and is now involved in the conflict. Picture: Ian Currie

“They want us to see every single person who has been murdered just as a number, but we don’t see them as numbers.”

Protest MC Basil El Ghattis condemned the actions of the US, labelling the nation the “head of terrorism in this world”.

“It goes to show you what these democracies represent and the laws that they profess to protect … are nothing but lies,” he said.

The Palestinian advocate added the genocide in Gaza had “exposed the hypocrisy” of world institutions and governments, including in Australia.

“If there is one thing to learn and you don’t suffer from political dementia, as I like to call it, a little more than 20 years ago, the US and our own government, lied to the entire world and said that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction and they illegally bombed Iraq to oblivion,” Mr El Ghattis said.

“They stood on stages and admitted themselves that they were lying and made a mistake.

“Now, today in 2025, over 22 years later, they are lying to us again and telling us that Iran is weeks away from developing nuclear weapons.”

Dozens of motorists queued down Little Bourke St as protesters set off on the 5km march from Swanston St to St Kilda Rd.

Traffic was brought to a standstill on St Kilda Rd as protesters made their way toward the US Consulate.

Many motorists appeared to detour down Toorak Rd to avoid the traffic as the march continued.

Originally published as Pro-Palestine protesters march to US Consulate in Melbourne