As the first missiles began landing in her Iranian hometown, Fariba Willison received a phone call carrying a stark message.
Her sister, calling from Tehran, asked if she could take care of her daughter in Australia “just in case something happened.”
This call came on a Saturday afternoon, shortly after US and Israeli military actions against Iran began. The conflict has since escalated, affecting multiple nations across the Middle East, leaving many, including Willison, anxious for their families’ safety.
“Many other mothers have sent me similar messages, pleading to look after their children if something happens to them,” Willison shared.
For Iranian-Australians like her, the situation evokes not only anxiety but also a renewed hope for political change in Iran.
“My emotions are all over the place. I feel sorrow for my people facing such hardships, yet I find myself celebrating because of these events,” the Adelaide-based surgeon explained to SBS News.
“I feel that my country is going through a big surgery. We are cutting out cancer, and this is a big procedure because they have been in charge for 47 years.
“This surgery is not going to be overnight.”
Daily life has become challenging for many in Iran as its currency and economy continue to collapse further as the country isolates from the west, and a conservative religious regime moves to restrict freedoms and crack down on dissent.
Wearing ‘white’ to celebrate
Multiple official local news agencies in Iran, including the state television, have confirmed the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, during the strikes.
Earlier on Sunday morning, United States President Donald Trump said Khamenei had been killed, which sparked hopes of regime change among some diaspora members.
It is unclear whether the death of Khamenei, the regime’s leader since 1989, will mean the start of something new, or much of the same for Iranians.
“They are getting a bit of their own medicine … the head of the snake is gone,” Willison said.
“I am happy that this regime is going because there is nothing about it that looks after its own people. It is an ideology that we don’t agree with.”
“We are celebrating that. We are going on the street to tell people that we are not the Islamic regime.”
On Sunday, she wore “white” and attended a demonstration in Adelaide with the Iranian community to celebrate recent events.
Footage on social media showed some Iranians celebrating the death of Khamenei in different parts of the country. On the other hand, state media has shared videos of some Iranians grieving the death of the previous supreme leader.
Shadi Rouhshahbaz, an Iranian-Australian and a futures and peacebuilding researcher said many Iranians are experiencing “a multitude of feelings”.
“At the same time, we’re feeling a lot of fear, we’re feeling a lot of grief, we’re exhausted, but also we’re hopeful and joyful,” she told SBS News.
“I think to capture the magnitude, the depth and the breadth of such an emotional and physical landscape is beyond any media coverage.
“One has to be Iranian to experience this.”
‘Conflicting feelings’
Australians have gathered in multiple cities with different reactions to the US and Israel’s war on Iran.
In Sydney, the Palestine Action Group, which regularly holds pro-Palestinian protests, demonstrated against the strikes on Iran. Similarly, in Melbourne, a pro-Palestinian group has gathered near Town Hall, broadly condemning the attacks.
In Canberra, a group of over 100 Iranian-Australians gathered outside the Iranian embassy, with many dancing, celebrating, cheering, playing music and waving flags.
Similar gatherings emerged in Brisbane and Adelaide, while there will be more community celebrations throughout the evening in Melbourne and Sydney.
Siamak Ghahreman, president of the Iranian Community Organisation, says major parts of the community he has been in touch with are “happy about what has happened”.
“They’ve got all the military and financial resources against people, and people don’t have anything except themselves. So foreign military support has always been welcome,” he told SBS News.
“Just to embody all of these conflicting feelings, so many miles away from your homeland, is something that is being very quickly lost in analysis and politics, Rouhshahbaz said.
“The world is struggling to understand because it’s a country that has experienced grief and loss.
“We’re also sitting and looking at our homeland being attacked, which, regardless of the motivation and intentions, will bring destruction at the cost of being witness to the death of the people who have harmed dictators, who have harmed our youth.”
In January, dozens of protests have happened across multiple areas in Iran, demanding regime change. The protests were sparked by demonstrations by Iranian shopkeepers.
According to the US-based human rights group, Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the death toll of the protests is above 7,000. The HRANA is investigating a further 11,700 deaths.
The Iranian authorities say the number of casualties is just over 3,000, including security forces.
Rouhshabaz said: “When someone is drowning, and there is a lifeline being sent to them … In that very first moment, they’re looking to celebrate that chance of survival, coming to the surface of the water.”
“When we’re staying up here all night in Australia, wondering who has gotten hit … Whether that’s near the house of someone that we love, or is it a military target? I think that’s [about] the hope of will there be a brighter tomorrow where our people will be safe, will be free.
“Not just safe from bombs and missiles, but also safe from execution, from torture, from pain.”
Some Iranians in the diaspora left Iran for similar issues, but now they are hoping for a different future.
Willison left Iran about 50 years ago, when she was 10, because of her father’s ties to the pre-1979 revolutionary government.
She was “very angry” when she realised she had to leave Iran, but now she hopes for a different future for the next generation.
“I am looking forward to the next generation to be able to live happily there and also for my daughter and my grandchildren to go there.”
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