Iranian from Armenian security: It finally came. We are afraid, but people are happy

Most of them live in Isfahan, but I have distant relatives and many close friends from the days of my studies in the capital as well.

The regime strictly limits any means of communication within the country and abroad. It is precisely at these moments that ordinary people, like my neighbors, are not able to communicate. Somehow this is possible in border areas, otherwise only those who have Starlink or are technically proficient and have a high-quality VPN connection have free access to the free, uncensored Internet.

How to take it. My whole family managed to relocate to Armenia, and here we are alternately rejoicing over what should come after the entire strike, and crying over the fact that our neighbors and fellow citizens are in serious danger. It really mixes terribly in us. It’s schizophrenia at full speed, I can’t describe it better. But too little of that information gets out. Most of the time, people only resort to the short message “Jávid Shah”, i.e. “long live the Shah”. This slogan currently unites the entire opposition against the regime.

I cannot speak for the whole nation, but I can speak for our family: As salvation. The regime is to blame for all civilian casualties. And not only those up to now, but also those who will lose their lives these days. If what happened in the past months had not happened in our country, there would not even be air raids now. I’m sure of that. But do you know what else I perceive as salvation? Armenia and Armenians.

To put it politely, Iran is not very lucky with its neighbors. However, look at the map, then look a little into history. It’s a paradox to some extent, but I seriously see it as Armenians are clearly our best neighbors.

It can give the impression that we are left to ourselves: the cradle of Christianity and us, unlikely friends. And ask almost anyone. Iranians love Armenia and Armenians are warm towards us, they understand us. Also, history has tested them extremely and is testing them. We see some similarities there.

It’s not exactly an exodus, but it will be several tens of thousands. During today, that number may have multiplied, I don’t know. In any case, it is also evident in the occupancy of Yerevan’s hotels, it is completely out of season and it is relatively full. My fellow citizens currently make up an unusually high percentage of those staying. We meet here, talk together, wait and have regrets.

We are happy for you, we are grateful for safety, but there are also regrets that we left others in it. But my mother left everything behind in her quick escape and is very afraid of whether she will have anything to return to. I can’t add her fear of me to that.

Many of us participated in protests against the regime at some stage and were lucky not to lose our lives. Some of our friends were not so lucky. Many of us know someone who has lost their life. Perhaps everyone knows someone who was arrested and no one currently knows about him. What’s up with those people? Are they alive?

When they lose their lives in airstrikes, the culprit is not Israel and Trump, the culprit is the regime. I am sure that this is how most fellow citizens perceive it, no matter where they are at the moment. But it’s a gnawing feeling. Lately, I’ve been crying more often than is healthy. Not only today.

When everything calms down, we will definitely all go back to the last one. We Iranians must build our country the way we dream of it. If nothing else, we at least deserve to live safely in our homeland.