As strikes intensify in the Middle East, Iranian-New Zealanders, such as Golriz Ghahraman, are grappling with what regime change could mean for their homeland. Photo / NZME
By Paris Ibell and Pretoria Gordon of RNZ
As strikes and retaliations continue in the Middle East, there has been a mixed response from Iranian-New Zealanders – but some see the US attempt to instigate regime change as an opportunity for Iran to reinvent itself.
The Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US and Israeli strikes but, in response, the regime has vowed the “heaviest offensive” in its history.
Iranian-born former Green Party member Golriz Ghahraman told RNZ many in the Iranian community were celebrating US action towards regime change, but some are already concerned about what comes next.
“What’s happening in Iran ... is terrifying by any standards. It’s pretty mixed, but distressing emotions for any Iranians,” she said.
“It’s our homeland being bombed, but of course we’ve seen some incredible, unprecedented violence by the Islamic regime against protesters earlier this year.”
Iranian-New Zealanders were “waiting with bated breath” to see what the outcome would be, she said.
“There are some who are incredibly hopeful that this will lead to swift regime change, some are deeply worried that what will happen is what we’ve seen happen to other nations in the region – which is that they’ll be devastated and then the previous regime will be reinstated.”
She was alluding in particular to Afghanistan, which has been under Taliban rule since shortly after the US withdrew.
New Zealand-Iranians with family still in the country were naturally “deeply worried”, she said.
Ghahraman, who was also a former UN human rights lawyer, said that although a lot of Iranian expats shared the US desire for regime change, the strikes were still illegal according to international law.
“There’s no such thing as a lawful pre-emptive attack on a sovereign nation. The United States knows this.
“This is just absolute fiction in terms of being able to bomb a country because you perceive them as a threat.”
Although the Khamenei government had been incredibly violent and oppressive, it was still hard for some Iranians to see the US as a liberating force, she said.
“We do have a very difficult situation in terms of enormous human rights abuses being committed by both sides, and the Iranian people being caught in the middle.”
She was calling on New Zealanders to support the Iranian community during this time.
“What we would like is to know that we live among communities that see our humanity, and know that the lives of our people, freedom, human rights for our people also matter.
“It’s nice to know that in our little communities in Aotearoa, that we are seen,” she said.
Reza Farhour, an Iranian man living in New Zealand, said he did not see the attack on Iran as a war, but as other countries helping the Iranian people.
Reza Farhour told RNZ that he was happy about Iran’s supreme leader being killed.
“We don’t call it war. It’s not against our people. It’s to help our people to get what they want.
The death of Khamenei was an opportunity for Iranians to govern Iran the way they would like, he added.
The conflict would not be over until the regime was gone, and Iran established a secular democracy, he said.
He estimated between 80 and 90% of Iranians were calling for the exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi (the eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was the last shah of Iran) to become the leader.
Last month, millions of Iranians had rallied across Europe, North America, and Oceania in response to a call by Pahlavi.
US President Donald Trump said 32,000 were killed in Iran as a result.
“He’s [Pahlavi] a very democratic person. He has been saying from the beginning: I don’t want to be a king, only the leader of this transition until we have a free election to choose what kind of democracy people want.”
Dr Forough Amin – an Iranian woman in New Zealand – told RNZ she was celebrating after the death of Iran’s supreme leader, and that she would not be the only person feeling relief.
“This Supreme Leader has been the symbol of a system that has brought enormous suffering to our people for 47 years,” she said.
“Thousands have been imprisoned, have been executed.”
Khamenei was the core of an oppressive regime controlling every aspect of Iran – including politics, economy, and culture, Amin said.
“He, as the central figure of this system, has disappeared.
“We feel like the wall that has stood over this country for decades has finally cracked.”
She was hoping Israel and the United States would completely end the regime, and Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi would take over.
-RNZ