*The names of these interviewees are pseudonyms to protect their confidentiality.
The United States and Israel have initiated a joint military campaign known as ‘Operation Epic Fury’ against the Islamic Republic of Iran in the past two weeks.
On Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israel launched a coordinated attack on the Islamic Republic, resulting in the death of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and an estimated 40 government officials. The attack came following unrest in Iran, as the Iranian people have been protesting the economic crisis and repression by the Islamic Republic.
The M-A Chronicle reported on the protests prior to the U.S. and Israeli military operation. It has been estimated that the regime killed 30,000 unarmed civilian protesters between Jan. 8 and Jan. 9.
Since the beginning of the war, the regime has responded with direct retaliatory attacks across the Middle East. While Iran claims it is targeting U.S. military bases in the Middle East, the strikes on Gulf Arab nations have hit residential areas, hotels, and civilian infrastructure.
The countries the regime has attacked, mainly with missiles or drones, include Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. In addition, Iran has targeted countries outside of the Middle East, such as Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Cyprus.
The M-A Chronicle spoke to Persian students to hear their reactions to the recent developments.
Cyrus*:
Junior Cyrus was relieved upon hearing the news of the attack. “With what [the Islamic Republic] has done, all the suppression and killing and threats that they make to the people of the country, I’m just very glad this is happening and that the Iranian government is getting justice served to them,” he said.
He also feels anger regarding some people’s reaction to the military campaign. “I cannot believe that there’s people out there saying Khamenei shouldn’t have died. No, it’s not even Iranians saying it, it’s like people in New York protesting that, ‘This is not our business’, but it is, it is,” he said. “Iran is a threat to the United States. The Islamic regime, if they get their hands on any sort of nuke, will use it as diplomatic power to try to force the U.S. into a different deal.”
Because of his Baha’i faith, Cyrus has never been able to visit Iran due to the Islamic Republic’s religious persecution of Baha’is. “If I go to Iran, I’ll be persecuted and suddenly go missing. Who knows where I’ll go?” he said.
He recounted his cousin’s harrowing experience during a visit to the country. “My cousin went to Iran, and within two days, the government called him asking for an interview, which is a bluff. They were basically just going to imprison him. So he had to drive from Tehran six hours to another village where the rest of his family was staying, and he had to fly out of Iran that day, because he was probably going to get killed,” he said.
Cyrus hopes that the military campaign will trigger a regime change, finally opening the door for him to visit Iran.
“I’m just really happy that I might be able to see Iran, because ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been asking my parents to go to Iran. I haven’t asked since I was 10 because that’s when I finally understood that this regime might actually kill me if I went,” he said. “So, the fact that soon, I could say that, ‘Yeah, I’ve been to my home country,’ is a very relieving feeling and something that I would love to experience. And I hope it happens in my parents’ lifetime, too.”
Kevan Kavusi:
When sophomore Kevan Kavusi first heard about the military operation, he was filled with hope. “My immediate reaction was, to be frank, it was a smile. It was like a kind of hope that something might change here for the better,” he said.
Following Khamenei’s death, he went to an event to celebrate. “When I went to the party, it was almost a birthday party. Everyone was saying ‘congratulations’ as if you graduated college,” he said. “It’s like saying, ‘Congratulations that your country is freed from the devil.’”
Kavusi views Khamenei’s death as a symbol of the U.S. and Israel’s capability to dismantle the regime. “Khamenei, he’s basically a symbol for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as someone who’s the perfect political figure,” he said. “If he dies, then the U.S. and Israel are capable of killing every single leader that comes after him because he was the one who was most protected.”
He has confidence in the military campaign, hoping that it will bring changes to the country’s governance. “I think that if they persist and the U.S. and Israel do this strategically, there can be some major political reform,” he said. “I just hope that the people stay safe and the leaders kind of stay stupid and don’t do anything that’s clever in order to evade the U.S.’s attacks.”
Mina*:
Sophomore Mina is concerned for her family still in Iran, especially as the conflict escalates. “I feel like it’s a little bit scary, especially for my family in Iran, because now there’s two pretty strong world powers involved. I really don’t know what’s going to happen and how Iran is going to react, especially now that Khamenei is dead,” she said.
Although the regime was not overthrown as a result of Khamenei’s death, Mina is still relieved he was killed. “What he stands for, it has caused so much pain to people in Iran, but also their families that live outside of Iran. So even though I know that [his death] is not going to be a super big change for Iran, it’s kind of nice to have him dead,” she said.
Having visited Iran before, it pains her to see places she remembers being damaged by the conflict. She recalled visiting the Golestan Palace, which was built as a royal residence for the Qajar dynasty. It was recently damaged by shockwaves in one of the airstrikes. “In Tehran, there’s this really big castle, and it’s really beautiful, and it had a room full of mirrors, and it’s a really historic monument. I visited it once, like seven years ago when I went to Iran, and now all the mirrors are broken, and it’s really sad, because they’re destroying parts of Iran,” she said.
Yasamin Abedi:
Junior Yasamin Abedi was shocked when she first heard that the U.S. and Israel had begun military operations in Iran. “It was kind of like the first feeling of just shock, you know, like when your heart stops and you’re just taken aback,” she said.
Her shock comes with fear as she worries for her family, since communication is limited. “There are people there that are so important to me and my mom, and it’s just really scary, especially since communication gets cut off. It’s already hard to communicate there in the first place, but then, plus this, you’re kind of left not knowing that much,” she said.
Abedi reflected on how distance from the war could make it hard for people to grasp the realities that people in Iran are facing currently. “It’s super easy for us living in a very modernized and fortunate place, where we have so much privilege, that the concept of even having a bomb dropped on your head, or being killed for not following a certain someone, is unheard of,” she said.
Because of that distance, she feels the situation is being overlooked by her peers. “I don’t think it’s people’s biggest concern, which I don’t think is a good thing. I think a lot of the time people are in their own heads and care more about things that they feel more directly impact them,” she said.
While there are many perspectives on the conflict, Abedi hopes to see the military campaign lead to reform. “I know that a lot of people don’t want U.S. involvement, and then other people say it’s beneficial to overthrow the corrupt government,” she said. “Violence should never be the answer, and it’s not the key to a lot of things. But in a situation like this, it does spark change and hope among groups of people.”
