Iran and the United States have always had issues with each other since the 1950s. The U.S. played a role in the coup against Mohammad Mossadegh, and since then the tensions have been rising between the two countries until it all boiled over.
When I woke up on Feb. 28th, I didn’t expect to get a call from my mom about the United States bombing Iran.
My immediate thoughts went to my family that lives there. I was scared about what was going to happen. After that call, I went and looked up what was happening.
I wanted to keep this to myself for the time being, especially because my roommates and I were going out later to get dinner and I didn’t want to bring the mood down. When I did decide to say something, I almost broke down because of how much it affected my family and I.
Being Persian in the United States makes me scared. I get scared to say anything because people can make up these ideas about me just from learning that small bit of information.
It makes me scared that if I do one thing wrong, someone will say something and it could have such severe consequences.
My grandfather was meant to be coming back, but the airspace around Iran is closed. His driver took him to Van, Turkey and he was able to leave and come here for a month.
It was scary trying to get him into the United States, we were scared that they would detain him somewhere and not allow him in.
He stayed for a month and now wants to go back to Iran, whether it’s for his family, his job or the memories we’ll never know.
It’s scary because we don’t know what will happen next.
Will he be able to come back into the country? Will he make it back to Iran safely? Would we be able to reach him when he arrives there?
These are all questions that are swirling around in my head. It’s been making me anxious for what’s happening next.
The president has been saying many different things on social media, from ending a whole civilization to saying “they should open up the damn strait.”
It makes me wonder if this is truly about the Strait of Hormuz, or about the power and control for other countries’ goods.
For now, a ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. has been granted and extended until Iran submits a proposal to end the conflict.
It’s a cycle that has been repeating for centuries. From the Iroquois wars, the Dzungar genocide, the Armenian genocide and many more. It’s history repeating itself, over and over again.
