SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A Carmel Valley family is experiencing nervous moments with loved ones living near sites in Iran that have been bombed.
Shahriar Afshar and his parents emigrated from Iran nearly 5 decades ago. He has several family members still living there, and his wife has dozens of loved ones in the country.
"Really scary, going day to day, not knowing if family members are going to make it through the night," Afshar said.
Afshar says many of the military sites in Iran are near residential areas. One of his wife's family members lives in central Tehran, about a block away from one of the sites.
“Two days ago, a bomb blew up next to one of our family members’ homes. The effect of bomb, windows shattered. It’s scary," Afshar said.
Afshar says Iran has few bomb shelters, so most people are simply staying at home. He describes the general sentiment among those he knows as both excited and afraid — afraid of the falling bombs, but excited about what the attacks could lead to.
"Sometimes you just need to confront bully. There’s no other way. It’s sad. You don't want to see your homeland bombed, but people in Iran were happy to see the U.S. intervention," Afshar said. "If this intervention wasn't going on, I am 100% certain that you would see another 47 years of oppression, killing, murdering, raping of ordinary citizens.”
Iran has acknowledged thousands had been killed during a crackdown of protesters in January. The exact number is believed to be tens of thousands of deaths — another example, Afshar says, of countless human rights abuses.
Afshar is hopeful the attacks on Iran will finally lead to regime change. He shared a text he recently received from a friend in Iran.
"This young woman is not a soldier, not military. She says, ‘We will fight. We will die, and we will get Iran back,’" Afshar said.
Afshar says he and others in the Iranian American community see the current moment as a turning point.
"We all feel this is end game. If this isn't successful, I don't know how the brave people of Iran will go on," Afshar said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
