Iranian Minnesotan describes anxiety for family, future of home country

[MUSIC PLAYING] NINA MOINI: Minnesotans are reacting to war in the Middle East after the United States and Israel launched a major military strike against Iran this weekend, hitting targets across the country that killed the country's supreme leader and multiple government officials. The offensive resulted in widespread destruction, civilian casualties, and retaliatory strikes across the Middle East.

Parham Alaei is the co-founder of the Minnesota Committee in Support of a Democratic Iran, a group that organizes Iranian Americans advocating for democracy in Iran. He's on the line now to talk about his reaction to the war. Thank you very much for your time this afternoon, Parham.

PARHAM ALAEI: Good afternoon, Nina. Thank you for having me.

NINA MOINI: I understand you have lots of family in Iran right now. Have you been able to talk to them recently, or do you know how they're doing?

PARHAM ALAEI: That is correct. So as you are aware, the internet was cut off a few hours after the attack Saturday morning, Iran time. And so the connection, connecting with the people in Iran has become difficult. But I do hear from them sporadically because they can still make phone calls through the landline.

NINA MOINI: I wonder how you're doing right now with the news of all of this and trying to discover what is going on with your family. How are you feeling?

PARHAM ALAEI: Well, I feel like what probably everybody in the Iranian diaspora feels right now. They are anxious about their families, of course. I'm anxious about the future of Iran. So we are dealing with that as well as we can. And as you know, it's not the first time we've been in this situation. I wouldn't say we got used to it. But again, we have seen it before and dealt with it before.

NINA MOINI: And when you talk about that, just for people who aren't as familiar with the background in Iran, there have been bursts of protests every few years here and there in the country and in the diaspora around the world. And many times, they've been quelled. They have been stopped forcefully by the government in Iran. And like you said, a lot of people have complicated feelings right now who are part of the diaspora. How do you explain to people what it feels like right now to witness this?

PARHAM ALAEI: Yeah, you're correct. I mean, there have been protests over the years, the latest one being in January of this year, which was brutally repressed, and estimates are 20,000 to 50,000 people were killed.

And actually, at the same time, the internet was cut two for three weeks, so we experienced the same disconnect back then, too, with the people in Iran. But again, this time, there is bombs flying over Iran. And again, the issue is we are just hoping that this would end in a better future for Iran. That's our ultimate goal at this point.

NINA MOINI: And I don't know, Parham, how long you've been here in Minnesota, but I do that your group, Minnesota Committee in Support of a Democratic Iran, you have held more regular protests and have wanted to see a difference, a change over there.

Again, for people who don't a lot about the background, Iran is a theocracy right now and was under or is under a supreme leader who, again, was killed. Are you looking at this like democracy is part of the future, or how are you interpreting the killing of Ayatollah Khomeini?

PARHAM ALAEI: Sure, sure. I've been here since '95, in Minnesota since '95. We formed the group in 2009. Again, we've been advocating for a free and Democratic Iran. As far as Khomeini goes, I think his killing is a good thing for the future of Iran because he was an authoritarian ruler that made all the decisions.

And him not being there, it would facilitate, hopefully, a transition to a democratic rule. I know the regime is still in power, so that it's not over yet, I would say, but this helps in that respect. And you've probably seen it, that Khomeini's death was celebrated, actually, by people inside Iran and outside. We've all seen videos of that.

NINA MOINI: And in our interviews with other people and many Americans who are critics of the war-- and Iranians. Really, a lot of people are calling it unjustified, unnecessary, saying that it was started illegally by the administration. What do you hear when you hear that, and how are you feeling about the war?

PARHAM ALAEI: Yeah. I mean, I don't think anybody wants war. I'll be the last person to want a war because innocents get killed from both sides. I mean, we know US servicemen were killed there, too. But the issue is this has been brewing for many years-- I would say for 40 plus years-- because frankly, the policies of the Western governments led to this. They appeased the Iranian regime many, many times, even though it had a destabilizing effect on the Middle East to the support of proxy groups.

And again, the gross human rights violations in Iran were often ignored or basically condemned by lip service. So we were expecting this. It was coming. I wish we would not have been at this point, but I think we are beyond that point. The legality-- and I'm not an expert in that, so I cannot really address the legality of the US action.

NINA MOINI: Are you thinking about the duration of this war? So much is unknown. We know this is a country of around 90 million people, resource rich, oil rich, but in a terrible state economically, largely due to relationships with other countries around the world. A lot of people have a lot of fear that this will turn out not as expected, that it will carry on similar to what happened in Iraq. Is that something that you're processing at this point?

PARHAM ALAEI: Yes, we are. I mean, we have the experience of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, even, and we don't want that to happen in Iran. So that is why we believe that once the war is over, there should be a transition government in Iran. Hopefully, the regime would fall after that with, hopefully, with a popular uprising, and the people can take over, form a provisional government, and we can have a free elections for everybody to choose their future.

So that's the ultimate goal. Now, whether we get to that soon, I have no idea. Nobody knows at this point how long the war is going to go on and what's going to be happening afterwards. I mean, Nina, as you mentioned, Iran has a population of 90 plus million and is a very diverse population, multi-ethnic, so those all have to come into play.

NINA MOINI: And that's why there are many different opinions about who should come in to leadership after this, how that should look. A lot of people would like to see the monarch family, the monarchy return. Iran wasn't really a democracy, right, prior to the 1979 revolution. What would be your hope for what democracy looks like and means in Iran in the future?

PARHAM ALAEI: Sure. I mean, Iran has never been a democracy. It was a very short period during Mosaddegh in the '50s. And I would say a few months after the revolution, it was a semi-democratic system. I lived there at the time myself, so I experienced the revolution and after effect. So yeah, we haven't really experienced democracy, but I think people are ready for that. And they strive it. I mean, the age of internet. People actually what democracy is, and I believe they should be able to, if they are empowered to, they should be able to decide their own future.

NINA MOINI: If you could try to describe for people, Parham-- and understanding you haven't lived there full time in a long time, but obviously, you have family, and you hear about what's going on. Can you describe for Americans-- and then if you would want people to what life is like right now and has been for 47, almost 50 years in Iran?

PARHAM ALAEI: Yeah. So the Iranian regime has been controlling every aspect of the population, political beliefs, religious beliefs, social events. I mean, as you have heard, the Mahsa Amini protests started because of her showing too much hair. So they've been intruding and governing people with brute force, intruding into their personal lives.

And any political dissent has been faced with imprisonment, has been suppressed by imprisonment, torture, and execution. So Iran has the highest rate of execution per capita in the world. It's been like that forever.

In recent years, we've seen what happened during the 1998, 2009-- I lose track of these-- 2022, and then latest one, 2026 uprisings that people were killed en masse in the streets. So that's what people have been facing, and that's why I believe they're ready for a change now, because they showed that two months ago when they took to the streets in millions.

NINA MOINI: And just lastly, Parham, what do you see as the role of people like yourself in the Iranian diaspora across the world? There has been a lot of raising awareness, a lot of protests across the world. But what about now that there seems to be an opportunity for some type of change to occur within the government? What do you see as the role of people like yourself who are outside of the country?

PARHAM ALAEI: Yeah. So as you mentioned, we have been advocating for Iranian people. We've been trying to be their voice outside the country. And right now, we should be advocating-- it's my personal opinion. We should be advocating for a democratic transition to a democratic government. Have the people have their say in the ballot boxes. And we should promote that, and we should promote that by reaching out, again, to the media, to the political figures, elected officials, and encouraging them to support the Iranians' strive for democracy.

NINA MOINI: Parham, thank you very much for sharing your perspective with us. I really appreciate your time.

PARHAM ALAEI: OK. Absolutely. Thank you, Nina.

NINA MOINI: That was Parham Alaei, co-founder of the Minnesota Committee in Support of a Democratic Iran.