Iranians in Colorado support freedom, but express concern over military conflicts
Members of the Iranian community in Colorado are making their voices heard after the United States and Israel launched a military operation in Iran on Saturday. Those who spoke to CBS Colorado agreed that they want freedom for their people, but are concerned about what military action means for the Middle East moving forward.
For six years, a man who only wants to be known as Roshan has been in front of the Colorado State Capitol every weekend, crying out for freedom for the people of Iran.
"The people want to have freedom, real freedom," said Roshan.
He is from Iran and came to Denver in 1978 to study at Metro State University months before the Iranian revolution of 1979. He says the Islamic Regime that ousted the Shah executed his sister, and he was never able to return.
Like the rest of the world, he woke up Saturday to the news that the United States and Israel bombed Iran, but he says he isn't celebrating because he thinks this military action isn't about freeing the Iranian people but rather about who has access to Iran's oil.
"That is the only care of the Trump administration," said Roshan. "They killed 32,000 people [during a crackdown on anti-government protests in Iran]. They gunned them down, and nobody, nobody cares."
Kevin Amirehsani is on the leadership council of the Colorado Chapter of the National Iranian American Council. He, too, says he wants peace and freedom for his family and friends in Iran and thinks war isn't the answer.
"We are making the situation worse," said Amirehsani. "This is scary. That is horrible. It's honestly a shameful day to be an American. There is a middle path here where you can both push back on the Iranian regime, but also not support war."
Dr. Micheline Ishay is the Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Denver. She says this attack on Iran was expected, but the magnitude of the attack and Iran's response is unprecedented.
"This is the first time that the United States dispatched that level of ammunition of the armada near Iran," said Ishay. "The Iranian government is behaving in sort of like a survival mode. And just attacking even a country in the Gulf with whom they had some level of deterrence, rapprochement, it's going to be very ugly."
She says only time will tell if this will lead to regime change in the region.
"That is an open question. How does it happen? Is it already in the works? Has it been done without our knowledge?" asked Ishay.
Iranians and Persians in Colorado aren't a monolith. They are a people with diverse backgrounds, religions, and opinions, but they all seem to agree that they want freedom and safety for their people.
Roshan and Kevin say moving forward, they hope the future of Iran is determined by the Iranian people.
"We're tired of regime change wars. We're tired of what happened in Iraq happening again," said Amirehsani.
"The Iranian independent mind, they care about that country because we have 2,500 years of philosophy," said Roshan.
