Junior, Diana Moradi, who came to the United States six years ago from Iran with her parents. The rest of her family is back in Iran, and she says her family was displaced and left Tehran immediately.
“There were a lot of attacks near their place, especially because they live near an airport, and they moved to the northern regions of Iran, ” said Moradi.
After several days of no communication, Moradi heard back from her family. “My aunt actually called me two days ago. We cannot contact them. It’s basically on their side, and she was able to contact me by buying a new phone line”.
The communication between international students here at Temple and their families overseas has been difficult. Noa Rosenbaum’s family is in Israel.
“I’ve been speaking with them very consecutively. They are all back and forth between the bomb shelters. They are all safe. They are well. They are healthy. and they are scared, but they are resilient, and they are strong,” said Rosenbaum.
Back closer to home in Philadelphia, Drexel professor and member of Philly Iranian organization, Porya Parsa, who fled Iran in 2015 to finish his education, spoke about his fears.
“I have no idea how safe my family is. There is no guarantee that in the next two weeks or the next month, something isn’t going to happen, and my family is going to be attacked by the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Parsa.
Parsa also says some Philly Iranians celebrated when they heard about the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and expresses his emotions.
“It doesn’t mean that we love Donald Trump. It doesn’t mean that we love Netanyahu. It’s just that we are at a desperate point. Nobody’s helping us. People aren’t even seeing us.
Parsa says Iranians want the power to choose their own government that listens to their people, and adds on saying, “allow for free elections. Let a government that is picked by the people.”
Some of the questions students are asking are when this war will end, and be able to reach out to their families frequently. Paras hopes that after the war ends, there will be a real change.
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