Many Iranian immigrants are glued to their televisions watching news about Israel’s war with Iran, the U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear sites and now the fragile ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump.
Maryam, 58, a Chester County resident, is also paying close attention to the fate of the country where she lived until her family fled after Islamic revolutionaries overthrew the Shah in 1979.
“The day Khomeini came to Iran (from exile in Paris) is when my family and I left Iran,” said Maryam, who asked that her last name not be used to protect the many family members still living in Iran. “Because my father said, ‘With the Islamic Republic, we cannot mix religion and politics, and with the mullahs coming in, you’re going to go backward 100 years.’ And that’s exactly what happened.”
Maryam was 13 when she left Iran. Her mother was German, so they were able to flee to Germany as dual German Iranian citizens.
“I had to leave my grandparents, my aunts, my uncles, everyone behind, our house,” she said. “We left. It’s very sad to lose your country and start someplace else new again. Most of the Iranians in the diaspora, that’s what happened to them.”
Approximately 600,000 people of Iranian descent live in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Before the Islamists took over, women in Iran could dress like Westerners if they chose or wear Islamic garb.
“A percentage of women were wearing the hijab,” said Maryam. “A percentage was not, like when you go to Egypt or other Arabic countries. It was your choice. So, my mom is European. She wore a miniskirt.
“There were nightclubs,” she added. “If you lived in Tehran (before the revolution), it was almost like New York City, very modern. And when they took over, they took the country back more like 5,000 years.”
Maryam is frustrated by how major American television media is portraying the Iranian public. She said people out in the streets rallying to support their country are not in the majority. She estimates that 80 percent would like the regime to be overthrown. But those opponents cannot risk being interviewed because they would be taken away, imprisoned, or killed if they spoke to reporters.
“The regime is brutal,” she said. “They tell you that you’re a spy for Israel, and that’s a death sentence.”
“The Revolutionary Guards are on the streets, so they cannot go and demonstrate against the regime,” she said.
“Just yesterday in the midst of this war, in the bombing, people are getting death sentences and they’re being hanged,” said Maryam. “And killed.”
While Israelis have sirens to warn them of an imminent missile attack and bomb shelters to hide in, there is nothing like that for the average Iranian. Although wealthy people and members of the regime’s elite have secure places to hide, she said.
While she welcomed the ceasefire, she had hoped the Islamic regime would be overthrown. She noted that the son of the last shah, Reza Pahlavi, is willing to return and provide stability until a democratic government can take root.
“No one wants war when innocent people die,” said Maryam. “So, it’s a relief. But having the Islamic regime still in power is not the outcome that we hoped for. The Iranian government has executed much more people than have been killed in the past week. Over 975 executions just in 2024!”
Those numbers are from the United Nations Human Rights Council, she added. “And now, they will aim their anger towards their own people and kill and imprison even more.”
Maryam came to the U.S. from Germany in 1989 to learn English. She planned to return to Germany, but she met and married her husband while she was here.
“My country is now the U.S., so while I want nothing more than for Iran to be free, and for the people to be free. So even if it becomes free, I will stay here. This is my country now,” said Maryam.
