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How Iranians in the US feel about the US-Israel war on Iran · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: For more. I'm joined now by Caroline A. Moderaci Tehrani.
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  Speaker 1: She is a journalist and then aroun Us expert. She's
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  Speaker 1: been covering Iran for over a decade now and she
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  Speaker 1: joins us from Atlanta. Good to have you on the program, Caroline,
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  Speaker 1: So thanks Marcha. When you are talking with Iranians living
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  Speaker 1: in the United States, what do they say, how do
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  Speaker 1: they feel about this war unfolding back home?
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  Speaker 2: Well, Monica, what I would say is that there is
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  Speaker 2: a lot of unity amongst Iranian Americans when it comes
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  Speaker 2: to their disdain for the regime, but there is increasing
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  Speaker 2: division amongst Iranian Americans about the way that the United
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  Speaker 2: States and Israel is litigating this war. There are a
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  Speaker 2: large number of Iranian Americans who are very concerned about
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  Speaker 2: the way that the United States is once again embroiled
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  Speaker 2: in a conflict overseas and attempting to regime change. You know,
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  Speaker 2: there are some reminiscence of Iraq there, and people are
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  Speaker 2: extremely wary of the intentions of the United States and
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  Speaker 2: of course of Israel. And then there are some others,
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  Speaker 2: particularly who are on the West coast of the country,
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  Speaker 2: who are far more open to the idea of the
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  Speaker 2: United States potentially being able to bring about some regime change,
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  Speaker 2: but I would say Monico. As this conflict has continued
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  Speaker 2: now into a month, I'm increasingly hearing more and more
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  Speaker 2: people being very fearful that there will be not much
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  Speaker 2: left of the country and infrastructure for civilians if the
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  Speaker 2: war continues to go as it has been going.
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  Speaker 1: And I can imagine there are probably also fearful for
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  Speaker 1: their friends and family who may or may not still
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  Speaker 1: be in Iran. How do they manage to stay in
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  Speaker 1: touch with them if at all.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a really really good question, and it sort
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  Speaker 2: of centers the humanity at all of this, which is
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  Speaker 2: that a lot of people who are here in the
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  Speaker 2: United States were exiled from Iran may still have some
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  Speaker 2: family members in there. I'm certainly one of those people,
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  Speaker 2: and it's been extremely difficult to get in touch with
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  Speaker 2: loved ones. People are very very anxious. A lot of
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  Speaker 2: people are staying up through the night to try and
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  Speaker 2: get hold of people. WhatsApp messages, telegram messages tend to
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  Speaker 2: not always go through. Usually I'm in touch with people
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  Speaker 2: perhaps every three or four days, and it's because there
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  Speaker 2: has been an internet blackout across the country. That means
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  Speaker 2: that connectivity for Iranians inside Iran is extremely scarce. It's
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  Speaker 2: hovered around one percent for the last three weeks. And
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  Speaker 2: so obviously and understandably, people outside the country are really
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  Speaker 2: really tearing their hair out, wondering is my loved one safe?
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  Speaker 2: Have they been and have they fallen victim to one
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  Speaker 2: of these bombings that we've seen. And there's just a
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  Speaker 2: lot of anxiety as this war continues, Monika.
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  Speaker 1: And of course it's also very difficult ten to somehow
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  Speaker 1: gauge the sentiment in the country outside. Are they Iran?
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  Speaker 1: We keep hearing mixed messages, for one, negotiation being mentioned
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  Speaker 1: several times. At the same time, though military built up
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  Speaker 1: is continuing. How does the Iranian American community view a
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  Speaker 1: possible risk of a ground war starting in Iran?
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  Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of anxiety around that, Monica. Understandably,
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  Speaker 2: As I mentioned, you know, the United States certainly has
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  Speaker 2: a very poor track record of any kind of intervention
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  Speaker 2: in this region in the Middle East. Obviously, there is
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  Speaker 2: a long history between Iran and the United States, you know,
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  Speaker 2: goes all the way back before the nineteen fifty three
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  Speaker 2: coup which overthrew Mossade, and I think that there is
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  Speaker 2: a lot of anxiety that ground troops would ratchet up
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  Speaker 2: this already unending conflict. You know, there is no sort
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  Speaker 2: of fixed firm date insight. And I think that also, Monica,
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  Speaker 2: for a lot of Americans as well. You know, these
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  Speaker 2: are Iranian Americans. A lot of Americans do not want this.
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  Speaker 2: This is a very unpopular war here at the United States.
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  Speaker 2: Its Americans are starting to feel the pain and pressure
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  Speaker 2: at the gas pump. And there's a lot of anxiety
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  Speaker 2: as we are kind of approaching the midterms as well
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  Speaker 2: from some Republicans that this war is going to lead
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  Speaker 2: to a shellacking for them in the midterms.
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  Speaker 1: Now, let's just assume that a deal will be struck.
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  Speaker 1: Is there something like a best case scenario for American
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  Speaker 1: Iranians because regime change at the moment doesn't look likely.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's a very good question. It's a
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  Speaker 2: difficult question, Moniker, for a few reasons. One is that
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  Speaker 2: the majority of Uranians, not just outside of the country,
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  Speaker 2: inside the country, from the limited polling that we have have,
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  Speaker 2: stated that they want regime change. The how you get
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  Speaker 2: to the regime change is really the question that he
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  Speaker 2: has caused so much of the fissure and fracturing amongst
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  Speaker 2: not just Iranians here in the United States, but also
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  Speaker 2: inside Iran as well. I always tell people that, look,
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  Speaker 2: this is a country of ninety two million pe. They
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  Speaker 2: are by no means a monolith you were going to have.
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  Speaker 2: Just as if you pulled people inside Germany, you know,
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  Speaker 2: it doesn't matter that they live in the same town.
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  Speaker 2: People have varying opinions, and they might have allegiances or
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  Speaker 2: you know too, different political parties. It's no different just
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  Speaker 2: because people are Iranians. I will say that for a
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  Speaker 2: lot of people, a worst case scenario looks like an
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  Speaker 2: emboldened regime that is left in place, as it looks
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  Speaker 2: like it may be after the United States and Israel,
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  Speaker 2: or certainly the United States pulls out, because at the moment,
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  Speaker 2: what you have is understandably paranoid and certainly more violent
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  Speaker 2: regime than you've had even in the recent past, unless
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  Speaker 2: we not forget than in January thousands of Iranians were
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  Speaker 2: killed or when they took part in anti government protests,
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  Speaker 2: and so I think that that's really a really big
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  Speaker 2: concern for a lot of Iranian Americans, which is what
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  Speaker 2: is going to happen, what is going to be left
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  Speaker 2: of the regime? And how are they going to inflict
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  Speaker 2: even more suffering on the Iranian people, coupled with the
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  Speaker 2: fact that Iranians are still at the threat of bombs
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  Speaker 2: by the United States and Israel.
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  Speaker 1: All right, well, journalist Caroline Moderesci Tehrani joining us in Atlanta.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you so very much for your time.