Iranians in North Texas say they're waiting anxiously to reach family and friends amidst ongoing hostilities that began this morning in the country.
The last time Bahar Momeni spoke to her brother was yesterday afternoon, Dallas time. It was evening in Tehran, just hours before the U.S. and Israel launched operation 'Epic Fury' in the capital city.
Momeni, who has lived in North Texas since 2013, said her brother told her he was worried about losing electricity and being able to afford medication.
"My brother is suffering from Parkinson's disease and diabetes and he has been struggling to find even the basic medication like insulin and those things for not just for today or yesterday but for the last year," said Momeni, a professor at The University of Texas at Dallas.
Following an uprising in the country last month, Momeni said thousands of Iranians have died at the hands of the Islamic regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The economy has tanked, with inflation rising drastically each week.
"It's like a dystopian situation before the attack," Momeni told KERA. "That's why people were mentally ready for that because their logic was like, we are already in war."
Homeira Hesami, a community organizer with the Iranian-American Community of North Texas (IACNT), said Iranians both living in the country and in the diaspora have wanted a regime change for decades.
"We think that we are getting to a different phase of the regime to be overturned by the Iranian peoples and their organized resistance," Hesami said. "The regime is getting weaker and weaker, and the Iranian people are more courageous than ever."
Hesami told KERA she supports the provisional government announced this morning by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The council aims to establish a democratic republic based on dissident Maryam Rajavi's 10-point plan, which calls for gender equality, freedom of religion and "peaceful coexistence" with neighbors.
Others, like Momeni, said they're hopeful that Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah of Iran, will be able to assemble a secular, democratic government.
"He is not claiming for power right now and we are trying to trust him," Momeni said. "He seems like a very democratic person, but we will see in the future."
For now, both Momeni and Hesami said they're watching the news closely as they wait to hear back from their family and friends.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Pablo Arauz Peña is KERA’s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org.
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