SAN ANTONIO — Mojgan Panah, a U.S. citizen and president of the MEHR Foundation, was speaking with KENS 5 about tensions between the U.S. and Iran on Tuesday when the news broke that Iran launched attacks on two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops.
"It's shocking and it's saddening," Panah said. "I will tell you, the first night when this all began I did not sleep that night because the whole time (I was wondering), 'What is going to happen? When we do go to war?' Not just in Iran for the 35,000 troops that we just sent there who probably don't really know what it is that they are going there to fight for."
Panah moved to the United states when she was 6 years old and has not been back to Iran since, but she said she has dozens of family members who still live there.
"You hear horror stories," Panah said. "Some people are afraid to communicate. They don't know if their phones are being tapped and who's checking, who's not checking, and my view has always been if I know I'm not doing anything wrong or I'm not saying anything wrong then why not have the discussion that is our freedom here."
Dual-citizen Shaye Ghahremani spoke to KENS 5 for the first time. She said many fear that speaking out against their government could cost them their lives.
"Personally, I can just be the voice for the oppressed," Ghahremani said.
She said the friends and family who are willing to speak with her have been sharing videos and pictures showing protesters being gunned down—images of the uprising that has been unfolding in Iran.
"I have friends at the capital – Tehran – and they were showing me where people were running away and they were being shot at like flies, like from the back by the regime," she said. "Those were just people out there saying, you know, 'The gas prices have gone up, we can't even afford to live a basic life.'"
She said she still holds on to hope that there will be peace.
"I feel for the troops that are going there right now," Ghahremani said. "I feel for their families. I feel that both sides – the people, the public – they don't want to have any war."
Panah said MEHR Foundation San Antonio is a non-religious and non-political local organization. She said the word Mehr stands for love. She hopes people will be open to learning about the Persian culture at their upcoming event on Jan. 18. For more details, click here.