2 days ago
Iranians in America watch anxiously from afar as their country awaits a possible US strike
Words by Producer Aisha Kherallah and video journalist Maral Shafafy.
It's a humid night in New York as hundreds of people begin to gather outside the New York Public Library.
This group, many of them Iranian, have come together to protest against any potential US involvement in Israeli strikes on Iran.
New York is home to the second-largest Iranian population in America, surpassed by California, otherwise known as 'Tehrangeles'.
Sahar opposes the Iranian regime. But she does not want to see her home country bombed.
"My parents fought for freedom in Iran and paid the price for it," she told ITV News." I was born in prison. My uncle was buried in a mass grave by the Iranian regime. We still love that country and we still love our people.
"We just want our people to prosper, our culture to thrive, and for our people to live their lives in peace."
Israeli airstrikes on Iran began last Friday. According to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists, Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 639 people and wounded 1,329 others.
Behrooz, a US citizen, is angry at the violence his native country is witnessing. A week ago, he would have laughed at the idea that America would strike Iran. Now, it's no joke.
"I think if you had asked me last week, I would have said that this would never happen," he said. "But, you know, after Israel attacked Tehran, I think all bets are off."
But it would not be a question of allegiance for Behrooz.
"I don't know how to think about a war because it is going to be very, very hard to be in this country - to pay taxes to a government that is dropping bombs on my people," he added.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump did not rule out US strikes against Iran.
'I may do it,' he told reporters at the White House. 'I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.'
The decision that seems to weigh so heavily in one man's hands, is not lost on the group tonight.
"It's infuriating and it's very difficult," Sahar told us." It makes us so angry that we are pawns and we are completely abandoned."
As the president mulls his options, Iranian-Americans continue to fear for the safety of their loved ones.
