Despite ceasefire, some Iranians in Minnesota uncertain about future
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In a quiet Minneapolis art studio, the tartness of sour cherries cuts through the heaviness of the aftermath of war half a world away.
The bowl of cherries between them is small, but for Katayoun Amjadi and Sima Shakhsari, it holds decades of memories.
Shakhsari grew the cherries in their backyard and says they’re a reminder of home.
More than two weeks after Israeli missile strikes on Iran triggered a deadly war, a ceasefire between the two countries seems to hold.
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For some Iranians in Minnesota, the news brings cautious relief — but also deep concern for loved ones back home and uncertainty about what comes next.
For Amjadi and Shakhsari, these days joy feels like a quiet act of defiance.
Amjadi, who is a visual artist, recalls what it was like leaving her home in Iran to move to the U.S. at 19-years-old.
“It wasn’t a choice. I was born into a family that was already displaced and scattered due to the Iran-Iraq War,” Amjadi said. “So it was destined for us to be ending up either in Australia, Canada, wherever they will give us permission to enter.”
Amjadi’s art studio in northeast Minneapolis is filled with her creations, things like ceramics and various art installations. Through her art, she looks at the tension between the past and present.
Like Amjadi, Shakhsari also didn’t have a choice when they left Iran.
Now, a professor at the University of Minnesota, Shakhsari says they watched the news in June when Israel struck Iran’s nuclear facilities, prompting Iran to fire missiles in response. The two countries have since exchanged deadly attacks in their worst fighting in decades. The war escalated when the U.S. hit nuclear sites in Iran.
Shakhsari has since been texting family each morning to check on them — receiving voice message updates that provide a sense of relief.
One recent message from a cousin in Tehran, which Shakhsari translated from Farsi to English went like this: “Dear Sima, hello, I hope you’re OK. I know these are not good times, but I just wanted to leave a message and tell you that we are all doing well, don’t worry.”
Shakhsari says this is the kind of check-in they’ve come to expect in moments like this. Moments that, they say, are not new.
“I think it’s not surprising, because this is what was in the making for years. We were part of no sanctions, no war on Iran, because this was the moment that we were all scared of, because sanctions are war by another name, right? So the people of Iran since the beginning of the revolution actually have been subjected to sanctions, economic sanctions by the UN or the U.S., or both, at different moments,” Shakhsari said.
Amjadi agrees. She says while the recent missile strikes between Israel and Iran have drawn international attention, the impact of war and political unrest has shaped the lives of Iranians both inside the country and outside of it, for decades.
“The reality of being there is very different than how we are consuming news right now, because at the end of the day, they just cook their lunch, take care of kids, and try to create a sense of safety,” Amjadi said. “And that brings all the traumas for myself, because I was a six-year-old during the height of the war when Tehran was under bombardments and we got evacuation orders, it was when I saw with my own eyes what war is.”
Both Amjadi and Shakhsari say that kind of generational trauma is real, but so is the resistance to being reduced by it.
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