Iranians in Chicago concerned for their loved one's safety as conflict in Iran intensifies

People in Chicago with direct ties to Iran are reacting to the death of the supreme leader and the ongoing U.S. military involvement.

One of those people is Tirdad Kiamanesh, a local organizer for Chicago4Iran, who has been critical of the regime. He called Saturday's attack in the country a positive first step, but said it will fall short unless there is a complete regime change.

Most of his family is still in Iran, and he hasn't been able to speak with them since the conflict began.

"This is a new level of anxiety and stress," he said.

Kiamanesh now lives in Chicago. He said all communications in Iran have been blocked, leaving him unable to talk with his family and forced to rely on social media videos for information on his loved one's safety.

"The scary thing is that we are scrolling the videosonline and saying is this close to our house or not?" he said.

Since the U.S. and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran, Iranian state media confirmed that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed.

Kiamanesh said he's optimistic that real change is possible-but only if there's a complete regime change.

"This is a first step, it's a very important step because this guy was very stubborn, very brutal. It was such a relief to see him removed," he said. "We want to see regime change because he wasn't alone in all of this."

The ongoing conflict also left 10 Chicagoans stuck in Dubai while they were celebrating a friend's birthday, but they are uncertain about when they will return. Their Emirates flight on Sunday morning was cancelled, and the airline has suspended all flights until at least Monday.

At the Vatican, Pope Leo said he is following the events in the Middle East with deep concern and made an appeal to stop what he called a spiral of violence

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the U.S.-Israeli military action in Iran, calling it illegal and unjustified.