For Iranian diaspora in Europe, the war back home is a dilemma
| Paris and Berlin
Pistachio and date-filled cakes glisten under a glass cloche as customers drinking cardamom tea settle into brightly tapestried pouf chairs at the Pouya caf茅 and cultural center in Paris. This small slice of home provides a respite to owner Abbas Bakhtiari, who otherwise has been glued to his phone as he worries about his sister, as well as countless cousins and friends, back in Iran.
鈥淏efore, we watched war in movies. Now we鈥檙e living it,鈥� says Mr. Bakhtiari, staring despondently out toward the Saint-Martin canal. 鈥淥f course I feel powerless.鈥�
Since the end of Israel and Iran鈥檚 12-day offensive, during which the countries exchanged strikes, word is that life in Tehran is starting to return to normal. The internet is slowly coming back as residents head home. A fragile ceasefire between the two countries, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, appears to be holding.
Why We Wrote This
The 600,000 Iranian expats living in Europe are torn over the now-paused, deadly conflict between Iran and Israel. For while it endangers a religious regime they largely despise, it endangers their family and friends back home.
But for the nearly 600,000 Iranians living in Europe, concerns about loved ones back home have been mixed with complex feelings about how to view the recent attacks. Like Mr. Bakhtiari, much of the diaspora is opposed to the Iranian government, and a significant number live in exile with no hope of returning.
Some see Israel鈥檚 ambush as a possible way forward to overthrow Iran鈥檚 suffocating regime. Others say they have been fooled before and that war is not the answer. Caught between hope for the future and horror over the attacks, Iranians in Europe are finding themselves in a new emotional limbo.
鈥淭his is a war between two leaders聽[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iran鈥檚 Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei]. This is their war, not the people鈥檚 war,鈥� says Azadeh Kian, an Iran specialist and sociologist at the Universit茅 Paris Cit茅, who has been unable to make contact with her family in Iran. 鈥淓ven if we understand the reasoning behind these attacks, the result is the same: It鈥檚 the Iranian people who are paying for it.鈥�
Understanding for Israel
Since Israel launched its first attacks against Iran鈥檚 nuclear sites and infrastructure on June 13, Ehsan Djafari has felt conflicted.
As a teenage activist for democracy in the 1980s, he was told to flee Iran聽by his mother, who was terrified he would end up in prison. Now in Berlin, where he runs an independent聽Iranian cultural center, he feels physically safe. But he is opposed to the Iranian authorities, because, he says, of the way they suppress freedom of expression, inflict imprisonment and torture on dissidents, and have left much of the country in poverty.
And he understands why Israel feels threatened. In 2005, Iran鈥檚 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stirred controversy by saying that Israel should be 鈥渨iped off the map.鈥� And while Iran has insisted that it is not building a nuclear weapon, its scientists have enriched uranium to 60%, a short technical step from weapons-grade at 90%.
鈥淲e鈥檙e dealing with a regime in Iran that, for 46 years, has openly threatened Israel鈥檚 existence,鈥� says Mr. Djafari. 鈥淪ome call it rhetoric, but we鈥檝e seen what this regime is capable of 鈥� in the region, and at home.鈥�
Still, he is not reassured by what鈥檚 going on back home. His two brothers still live in Iran with their small children, and he hasn鈥檛 been able to reach them because the regime shut down the internet.
And he worries that the Israeli airstrikes, which damaged three of Iran鈥檚 nuclear plants, military facilities, and part of its notorious Evin Prison, will do nothing to motivate the Iranian regime to protect its people going forward 鈥� and may even make matters worse.
鈥淭he regime will likely respond by tightening its grip even more,鈥� he says. 鈥淢ore arrests without due process, more executions, and even harsher repression of dissent.鈥�
In central Paris on Sunday, around 400 Iranians from the diaspora gathered to protest the violence on both sides. Simin, a local artist, decided not to attend.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 go because I didn鈥檛 know who to scream against,鈥� says Simin, who left Iran over a decade ago and hasn鈥檛 been back for four years. Out of concern for her family back home, she asked to use a pseudonym. 鈥淚鈥檓 against this regime, but not for [Israel] erasing Iranian people.聽
鈥淚 still dream of going back, but every time I鈥檓 about to go, something happens in Iran that makes me not want to return.鈥�
Mixed feelings
In the week leading up to Israel鈥檚 attack on Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency warned that it had been unable to assess whether Iran鈥檚 nuclear program was 鈥渆xclusively peaceful.鈥� One day earlier, the United Nations-backed watchdog had declared that Iran was not complying with its obligations regarding nuclear nonproliferation. Talks between the U.S. and Iran had recently stalled.
Still, some question the timing of the attacks, and whether Israel truly acted out of a sense of immediate danger.
鈥淲hy do this when negotiations were underway?鈥� says Ms. Kian, the Iran specialist. 鈥淚f the idea was to make the [Iranian] regime fall, it failed. If it was to destroy Iran鈥檚 nuclear program, it failed. What I see is Benjamin Netanyahu losing popularity because of what鈥檚 taking place in Gaza, and an attack against Iran is a way to turn attention away from that.鈥�
The whole situation invites strong opinions and deep convictions, especially within the Iranian community. But for Jasmin Sepahzad, that only makes it harder to sort through the narratives and come to a reasonable conclusion. Her father immigrated from Iran, but she grew up in Germany.
鈥淚t makes for a really confusing situation,鈥� says the freelance facilitator in rural Wangelin, Germany. The debate 鈥渟eems to be put into what is 鈥榞ood鈥� and what is 鈥榖ad.鈥� There is pressure to turn everything black and white.鈥�
Experts in the Mideast聽say that the current ceasefire remains fragile, and that any hope of progress will necessitate deliberate negotiations. Otherwise, war could resume.
That鈥檚 a frightening prospect for Mr. Bakhtiari. As another group of customers wanders into the Pouya caf茅, sitting down for saffron tea, he points to a collection of Persian sayings painted on the caf茅 walls. In times like these, they act as great comfort to him.
鈥淲e have an expression that says, 鈥業f you have nothing to lean on, come and rest on my shoulder,鈥� says Mr. Bakhtiari. 鈥淲e need this now more than ever.
鈥淢y father used to tell me, if we looked eye to eye with people, we鈥檇 never have war.鈥�
