DETROIT – A Metro Detroit man with family currently living in Iran, just miles away from a Tehran military base bombarded and battered Saturday, is sharing his story with Local 4.
Majid Aalizadeh, who immigrated to Metro Detroit from Iran, said he’s barely slept in the past 24 hours. He showed Local 4 screenshots of his conversations with family members before an internet shutdown cut off communication.
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“In the very first minutes before the internet was shut off, I talked to my aunt who lives in Tehran, the capital, and she said it’s very, very scary,” Aalizadeh said.
As soon as he heard the news around 2 a.m., Aalizadeh said he texted his aunt.
“Hi, Auntie. They hit Tehran. Take care of yourself,” he said.
“Yes, they hit us,” she said. “We are having a heart attack. The voices were so loud. They hit four back to back. They sounded so close to us. Your cousin is at the base. I am having a heart attack.”
“Her son is serving in the military,” Aalizadeh told Local 4. “It’s an obligatory service, like a two year service that you have to do for this regime. She was really worried because they were doing targeted attacks to military bases.”
Aalizadeh moved to Michigan seven years ago to complete his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan. He now works as a postdoctoral researcher there, but said his heart is half a world away, still tethered tightly to Iran.
Local 4 is not showing the faces of his relatives for their safety.
“During the phone call, my brother was very happy and excited and was trying to get confirmation from me whether the supreme leader was actually dead,” Aalizadeh said.
He said that although his family is terrified, they also feel a sense of triumph after the news. After what he described as years under stringent economic and social oppression, he said they feel today is a step toward freedom.
“Whatever happens next, even if it’s too bad, it won’t be worse than what it was,” Aalizadeh said.
At the same time, he said he understands that others may see things differently and that there is a very real, very human cost to what is happening.
“It’s hard to understand for people who haven’t experienced it that we are ok with temporary uncertainty and war, if it comes even at the cost of our lives, our family members lives,” he said.
“How many people are feeling upset versus how many people are feeling relief tonight?” Local 4 asked Aalizadeh.
“I can’t say for sure. Based on what I see, I think at least 80 or 90% are feeling relief,” Aalizadeh said.
Aalizadeh said if he were able to see his family now, he would be emotional no matter what, but especially now, he thinks he’d be even more emotional.