After the launch by the US and Israel of a major military offensive against the Islamic Republic resulted in the killing of its infamous leader, Ali Khamenei, members of the Iranian diaspora in Europe and the Middle East are feeling a complex mix of relief – that the dictator is dead – and deep anxiety – about the harsh realities the war may bring to their homeland.
Nevertheless, one particular member of the Iranian diaspora, speaking anonymously due to his diplomatic position, was clear on his position when he spoke with The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
The American and Israeli strikes “should have even happened earlier, last month, after what the regime did to the protesters,” he said. “These strikes are very helpful, and we will see the results soon, hopefully.”
Adding that US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are doing a “great job,” he celebrated that Iran “finally got rid of this dictator,” adding that the “head of the snake should have been targeted and eliminated during last year’s 12 Day War.”
On the other hand, Kaveh Ghoreishi, a Kurdish journalist who left Iran in 2005, took a different tone.
Speaking to the Post from Berlin, he explained that he was more worried about the cost and realities of the conflict, which has stretched far beyond Israeli and Iranian territory:
“Wars always involve miscalculations and can have horrific consequences for civilians, especially children. As we saw on the very first day of these attacks, an elementary school was bombed, killing dozens of children.”
Ghoreishi was referring to Iranian state media’s report that over 100 young students were killed in a strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school in Minab, adjacent to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) barracks.
“It is a harsh reality.”
Nevertheless, while Ghoreishi has spent a lifetime advocating for human rights, and he believes that “there is no justifiable or defensible element in war”; he also sees that “it is clear that the people of Iran have tried every possible avenue to change the regime, yet every effort was met with brutal and deadly repression – a slow, ongoing war. In reality, they had no viable path to democracy,” he reasoned.
“In such conditions, many sought the use of force, war, or of targeted foreign intervention.”
Despite the Iranian missiles aimed at US bases in countries across the region, such as Cyprus, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, Ghoreishi theorized that this would not “turn into a long, conventional war.”
“Even if it continues,” he said, “the Iranian people have reached a level of maturity where they both want and are able to determine their own destiny and shape their future with their own hands.”
Reflecting on the fate of Khamenei, Ghoreishi said that it was “bittersweet.”
While he was relieved that the tyrant’s death meant “the end of a dictatorship that devastated our generation,” he admitted to feeling disappointed that Khamenei would never face justice for the atrocities he inflicted on his people, would never stand trial, and would never see the people he oppressed freed.
Ghoreishi recalled that the moment he heard the confirmation of Khamenei’s elimination, “25 years of political life” flashed before him, including the loss of loved ones who “were either executed or died prematurely under the burdens of living in a dictatorship.”
Opening up more about his anxieties, Ghoreishi acknowledged that ethnic divides have plagued Iran since before the Islamic regime seized power in 1979, and said he worried about what values a new government might bring.
Though exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has been favored by many in Europe as part of the alternative to the Islamic regime, Ghoreishi said he was “concerned that another [dictatorship] could replace it.”
“As a Kurd, I am, on one hand, glad that the end of this regime is near. Yet, looking at the rhetoric of the remaining government and the dominant nationalist opposition, I cannot help but worry.”
Ghoreishi was referring to critical comments made recently by Pahlavi on X/Twitter:
Kurds express misgivings towards Pahlavi
“In recent days, several separatist groups – some of whose records include collaboration with both [Ruhollah] Khomeini and Saddam [Hussein] – have made baseless and contemptible claims against the territorial integrity and national unity of Iran,” Pahlavi posted, in reference to the five Kurdish groups announcing the formation of the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan.
Karim Parwizi, a senior official of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, told Associated Press (AP) on Sunday: “We have been through ethnic cleansing and persecution and dictatorship [both] under the [shah Mohammad Reza] Pahlavi regime [over half a century ago] and under the Islamic Republic.”
Ghoreishi interpreted that the crown prince had “effectively threatened them with a future intervention by his imaginary ‘army,’” while labeling Reza Pahlavi as the “son of the former dictator.”
“For Kurds and other oppressed ethnic and national groups in Iran, the problem may not simply be the Islamic Republic, as the majority Shia-Fars population see it, but any centralized, undemocratic ideology that denies Iran’s multiethnic and multinational reality and insists on ‘one nation, one flag, one leader,’ a Nazi-like slogan chanted at monarchist rallies in Munich,” he concluded.
“Kani,” who also expressed anxiety over the future leadership of Iran, left his homeland nearly 15 years ago for his studies. He requested that the Post not reveal his identity to protect his family, still living under the regime and in neighboring Iraq.
“Kani,” who also expressed anxiety over the future leadership of Iran, left his homeland nearly 15 years ago for his studies. He requested that the Post not reveal his identity to protect his family, still living under the regime and in neighboring Iraq.
“Their concern is not merely overthrowing the regime, but from their perspective, if someone like Reza Pahlavi comes to power, it won’t make much of a difference compared to Khamenei, and he may even behave more repressively toward them.”
Despite discrimination and persecution under the Islamic regime, Kani had frequently returned to the country “despite all the risks” to stay connected with his community and “not become alienated from the dynamics of Iranian society,” but his visits ended in 2022.
Kani has not been home since he witnessed the regime’s brutal response to the Women, Life, Freedom protests, which erupted after the murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for wearing her headscarf incorrectly.
“The situation became more dangerous for me, and I never returned,” he said.
Asked how he felt about the US and Israeli strikes, Kani said, in reference to the civilian casualties, that he felt “deep sympathy for the death of any innocent person anywhere in the world,” but that he was having “contradictory” thoughts on the issue.
“If it were a normal situation, I would be upset, not because a foreign power attacked ‘my country,’ as I am not really that nationalistic. But I should be upset because, after all these 47 years, with all the sacrifices and lives lost, we, the people, could not overthrow this regime by our own will,” he explained.
“We, the Iranian people, need to have a deep self-criticism about this. I know the Iranian regime has been very bloodthirsty and strong, but the people need to critically examine their own actions. Now that the people couldn’t overthrow the regime, I hope that if the American-Israeli attacks can bring about a change in the regime, and among all the plans the world has for Iran, the people will get another opportunity to take back power.”
“Despite all the anxiety I have, it also brings me joy,” he continued. “I believe that if these attacks lead to a change in the regime, and not to a deal with the remnants of this regime, these attacks would be exactly what the majority of the people wanted. (Although there will always be a minority that has stayed with the regime until today.)”
Speaking bluntly about the death of Khamenei, Kani said, “I have never been this happy about the death of someone. Since last night, I have cried multiple times. Last night at 5 a.m., I woke up and thought to myself, ‘Was I dreaming?’ I quickly checked my phone to make sure it wasn’t just a dream.”
“I was five years old when Khamenei came to power,” he said. “I can say that I have spent almost my entire life under his rule, even when I was abroad. How can I not be happy?”