Central Ohio resident with ties to Iran reacts to tensions with country
COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Raheleh Bagheri said she woke up crying this morning thinking about the violence in her home country.
“If I sleep tonight I don’t know what’s happening when I wake up the next morning,” Raheleh Bagheri said.
Her whole family is still in Iran. However, for the past 7 years she has been in Columbus and now she is an American citizen.
“It’s so stressful and for them as well because they are right in that situation,” Bagheri said.
Ever since tensions started to escalate between the U.S. and Iran she said she has been in close contact with her family.
“They say things are so tense here and so stressful we don’t know what’s going to happen and they don’t know what to do,” Bagheri said.
After Iran’s missile attack against U.S. troops, President Trump said on Wednesday that the U.S. is ready to embrace peace. The director of the Middle East Studies center at OSU, Dr. Alam Payind, believes this could de-escalate the situation.
“It will probably lead to softness of positions on both sides,” Payind said.
And he said war with Iran wouldn’t end well.
“If the United States would have war with Iran it would be much more dangerous than any of us could believe,” Payind said.
Although the situation has been moving fast and tensions were on the rise, Professor Payind said he believes it will get better.
“I am cautiously optimistic that both sides saying war is to no one’s benefit. No one will win the war,” Payind said.
It is something Bagheri is also hopeful about.
“We are not looking for another war I’m sure America doesn’t want war too. Iranian doesn’t want war too at least for the people,” Bagheri said.