As the war in Iran continues, we wanted to reach out to a man we spoke to last year during the U.S. bombing of the country’s nuclear facilities.
Ali Safari is a former Iranian news editor who lives in Tehran. He spoke to us as bombs were falling near his home.
“There is some kind of attacks in the western part of Tehran, which is really close to my home,” Safari told Here & Now’s Robin Young during a conversation Wednesday afternoon. “And I’m hearing the sounds of explosion even right now. And the attack is going on.”
4 questions with Al Safari
Are you afraid?
“First of all, I’m afraid of losing my family. Yesterday, I lost one of my friends who was passing by one of the Iranian streets and suddenly the attack to a police station. And due to that attack, he was killed. We are living under war, under daily attacks by the American and also the Israeli air forces. And this is quite interesting for me, that if that friend of mine, unfortunately, has been killed due to that attack, was one of the participants in the uprising that you called it during the beginning of January. And he had been detained by the police at that time, and now he had been killed by the American or maybe the Israeli forces.
“So, yes, we are afraid of anything, maybe attacks, maybe, I mean, the chaotic situation because of the continuation of these daily attacks. And the people are asking, ‘OK, [what’s] going to be the end of these attacks? The big fear that we have is the fear of the future. [What] is going to be the future of the Iranian nation.”
Are you on any level glad that this has happened, that Khamenei and other top leaders have been killed?
“Yes. First of all, I think that’s my personal view. It isn’t important because you have to look at the Iranian society. The first thing that I have to say that, as you know, that is attacking and assassination. This is not their killing. It was really assassination of the leader of another country. [It] is in violation of the international law.
“If you go and talk directly to the Iranian opposition, they are saying that’s what we have wanted during all campaign against Islam Republic of Iran. What we have said and what we have insisted on, was some kind of reformation from inside by the Iranian people, not with the intervention of the foreign countries.
“So, my view, I’m not glad, but I think I’m totally angry about what’s happened. One day you stand up and you see that the attacks into the presidential palace, they assassinated your leader. And now they are saying that, ‘OK, we came here to have a regime change or who are you to change our regime?’ How can you consider for yourself that you have this authority to go and decide for the other nations?”
What is daily life like?
‘The daily life hasn’t been changed, at least until this very now. Everything is going on. The administrative branch of the governments are working, collecting the garbage or maybe other things. I don’t know who is the person who is in charge. But what we have heard from the media, from the state television, that there is a leadership council which is in charge for the administration of the country. And what I can say about it, daily life. Nothing has been changed until this very now except the sounds of explosions, killing, being killed. Some of your friends and the consequences of the war that we are living.”
Are people leaving? Are people trying to get out?
“Since the initial hours of the war, yes. We have seen the people leaving the city. And also there were statements by the Iranian government which advised the people to leave the city, particularly Tehran. They have said that based on our information, it’s going to be a continuous operation by the United States of America. So, it’s better to leave, to stay safe. But since the confirmation of the passing away of Iran’s Iranian supreme leader, we have seen the returning of the people to Tehran. Now, every night, some pro-government gatherings, rallies inside Tehran.
“It was in contrary from what we have had during June, because at that time, I think 19% of the Tehran’s population left the city. But now this is in contrast simultaneously to the attacks and bombardment of the city. We are seeing the rallies during the night in supporting the government.”
This interview was edited for clarity.
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Lynn Menegon produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Todd Mundt. Michael Scotto produced it for the web.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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