LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A UNLV student with family in Iran and a Las Vegas rabbi are sharing their reactions to the attack on Iran and the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Daniel Kheradmand, a UNLV student and president of the Las Vegas Iranian Students Association, said his initial reaction was a mix of joy and fear.
“My grandparents also still living in Iran. I was worried about them as well. On the other hand, I was also happy because this war against the regime of Iran, not the people of Iran,” Kheradmand said.
Violent conditions in Iran has led to death of thousands of youth
Kheradmand described what he called the tyranny of Khamenei’s government, including its treatment of young Iranians.
“Usually the government’s going to spending for their young generations because they’re going to be the future of those country. So, but unfortunately, the government of Iran shooting them and kill them. There is actually around 35 to 40,000, and most of them were young,” he said.
While Kheradmand said he is grateful for the death of Khamenei, he said the threat is not completely gone.
“I want to say God bless Iranian people, God bless United States, God bless Israel, and God bless all the human in the entire world. It’s actually the hard time, but I believe we can pass that,” he said.
Las Vegas rabbi monitoring threat to congregation
Rabbi-Cantor Jessica Hutchings of Ner Tamid said it is too early to tell whether the attack will pose a greater threat to her congregation.
“If there is anything going on that could be targeted against Israel, it also could be targeted against the Jewish community, and therefore all of our alerts are kind of up,” Hutchings said.
Hutchings said she hopes the attack can lead toward peace.
“I just hope that and pray that this is not a long, drawn-out thing and that our US troops are safe, the IDF is safe, the civilians in Iran are safe,” she said.
She also acknowledged a sense of relief at the dismantling of what she described as a source of potential terrorism.
“To dismantle a big part of potential terrorism, there’s a little bit of a deep breath in that,” Hutchings said.
“I think it’s hard to ever say that we’re happy about a war happening. It’s just a reality that we now live with and have to pray that there’s safety and there’s freedom and there’s peace and that there’s a good outcome,” she said.
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