S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on today's show. Local reaction to possible regime change in Iran and the complex history of U.S. involvement. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. Strikes continue to escalate across the Middle East today as the US and Israel pound Iran with airstrikes. Iran has retaliated with strikes against Israel and multiple Gulf nations. So today , we wanted to get a sense of how the local Iranian community is feeling and reacting here in San Diego. For many , the death of Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was met with great joy. Here's what 23 year old Inas Istorie told KPBS.
S2: This level of joy and happiness , the Iranian diaspora we are feeling is , uh , crazy , um , is insane. Um. This weekend it was a very emotional day. Uh , we were dancing. We were cheering. We were crying from happiness.
S1: And there are people who say this is a very complex situation that brings about both joy and concern. San Diego County is home to more than 12,000 immigrants from Iran , according to the Census Bureau data. And now joining me to share his perspective is Jerome Homayoun Farr. He's an organizer with the coalition for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran. They've been organizing weekly protests against Iran's leadership in downtown San Diego. And , Sharon , welcome to Midday Edition.
S3: Thank you so much for inviting me. Hello.
S1:
S3: Iranian people have been fighting and struggling for democracy for over 100 years. They have been facing different regimes that they manifest. Their manifestations were different , but the reality , the nature of them were the same. They were dictatorship in Iran , so that desire for democracy and freedom was always crushed. Now we are getting to a point that this war is going on. Well , the people of Iran that are who were very active for democracy , they revealed a secret regarding Iranian ambitions for nuclear weapons in 2002 , when they made that disclosure. No one in the West , with all these sophisticated technologies and means that they have none of them. They had any clue that the Iranians are pursuing nuclear weapons. They wanted to get insurance policy the same way that North Korea basically has that insurance policy. Iranian resistance. They disclosed that in 2002. Unfortunately , what the West did as a whole , rather than try to deal with that issue. They try to negotiate with regime. They try to appease the regime. And that gave them ample time to kind of get it to a point that now the whole world is in danger. So now that this war is happening , I can see that because , yeah , Iranian regime with that mentality of that belongs to 14th century. If they have access to nuclear weapon. Yeah , it jeopardized the whole world. But what I'm trying to say is that this is not new. It was brought to the attention of the world. Almost 20 some years ago. And West as a whole. They did not respond in a proper manner. So right now we are here. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , and I wanted to ask you that because , I mean , the US has been involved in regime change before. As you said , it led to dictatorships. Um , at this point , you know , one of the reasons that has been given for us involving the U.S. in this war is for regime change. Um , but without the infrastructure in place to make that happen.
S3: I personally think that there is a very strong resistance going on in Iran. The resistance is capable of getting the secret information of the atomic weapon and disclose it. That shows how strong there are in Iran. I think to me , Iranian people , and with their organized resistance can finish this job. That's that should be the way. If the Iranians wants democracy , which they have shown that over the past hundred years , they want , I think they should do that job because then they can get something I can they can protect and that freedom for for a very long period of time. This way that your hope is that another government or governments try to topple the regime. I would bet you 99.999 whoever they put in charge is not going to be ideal for Iranian people. We've seen these movies before.
S1:
S3: And that's that's concerning for me , because to me , this regime stays because they agreed with Americans and they gave up the atomic ambitions. But the human rights. What's going to happen to that ? I don't believe the human rights of Iranian people is in the in the agenda. That's what concerns me. So yeah , I , I don't have that trust that as a result of this thing , the Iranian people would get freedom of speech. The one Me and you. We are enjoying it in here. The people of Iran would have it. I thought it very much. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. So this is a very. It's not a a black and white situation. There are a lot of complexities here to it. When you look at the situation.
S3: And now they realize that pretty much they got it. And they felt that if they wait another , I don't know , month or two. I mean , now you can see the devastation that they have created in the region. You just imagine that they could basically put these atomic bombs and send them with all these missiles that they have , it would have been catastrophe. I can't see why us had to act because it was getting very close and dangerous. I can see that.
S1: So you really.
S3: You put someone that you want to be in place , and that person is already saying that you guys can come and do all the rebuilding , all of those things. So he's already a starting basic sales job. And yeah , I can kind of see that once they removed him , they put the right person that they want the same way that they did in 1953. When they did the coup d'Γ©tat. They kind of continue a business as usual. And and the way that I see it is that I think interacting with other countries is great. You have to interact with other countries. But the main thing is that all of these things can. It leads to democracy and human rights and freedom of speech. I have definitely very strong doubts that it's going to go that way because , um , all the signs that are there are pretty much , um , carbon copy of what has been done in the past. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. What is your biggest concern is this as this continues to unfold ? Um what are you most concerned about ? You know what.
S3: That's what my biggest concern. And the key is at that point of time , there was not , um , very strong resistance there to help Doctor Mosaddegh , but now it's very different. Now there is an organized resistance in Iran.
S1: Can you. For those who don't know what happened in 1953. Do you mind explaining that ? Because it was. Absolutely.
S3: Absolutely. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Please. Absolutely.
S3: Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. You know what ? In Iran , there was monarchy. Uh , about 100 years ago that it was very brutal. And then the people basically fought about it , and then they got to a point that be some sort of monarchy like England , like , for example , Belgium. That's what is supposed to be. The king is going to be only a figurehead , and the prime minister basically can run the country , like , for example , Britain. Doctor Mossadegh was the same person. He believed that he didn't wanted the Shah to be out of Iran , but he believed that the , the , the , the , the his role is going to be kind of symbolic , kind of a job. Doctor Mosaddegh recognized that the contracts that the Iranian had with British regarding Iranian oil wasn't a very , um , a really fair contract. Um , I do not know exact percentages , but if you go into a contract , all is yours. And because they have the knowhow and they get 90% of the oil and you only get 10% , that's not fair. And what he did was that he took that case to the World Court and in the court , basically , he was able to convince them that this is not this is not a proper contract. So as a result , he was able to nationalize Iranian oil. So that thing was a great thing. Very great thing. So but what happened was as a result , within a short period of time , U.S. and British , they got together and basically they engineered the coup d'etat that they removed Doctor Mosaddegh. And then they brought Shah back to Iran once he got back to Iran. Then he basically ruled with the iron fist in Iran. Just for your audience to know that , because these days they show some of the pictures from the past versus now. And people look at it , they think that , well , maybe it was heaven back then. There was no social freedom in Iran , none in Iran. There was only one , one party , and that was party of they see the king. They canceled every party in that in that country. And Iranians are very sophisticated people. They do understand the value of democracy. So that built a lot of resistance in Iran. And you know that back then Soviet Union existed. Iran is the neighbor of Soviet Union around that time. And as the demonstration started growing in around 1977 78 , US and and on Britain and France. They recognise that shore is going to lose it because the protests are becoming stronger and stronger. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. So. So.
S3: So.
S1: And essentially it was a situation where Iran wanted to nationalize their oil. At the time , Britain was pulling was pulling oil from Iran , um , under the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company benefiting from that. And , uh , Iran wanted to nationalize the oil. And then the US got involved to help Britain and their oil company , which is now known as BP , um , to be able to continue to , to get that oil from Iran without having , uh , the country nationalize its oil , which would have been of a big benefit to the people of Iran. Correct.
S3: You're you're absolutely correct. You're absolutely correct.
S1: I do want to talk about the current situation in Iran , because I understand you've got family there right now.
S3: And through another channel , I noticed that because the place that they live is kind of close to military buildings and things like that , and they were faced a lot of bombing. So she's basically fled to the northern part of the country that there is less bombing there. So it's it's it's very concerning , very concerning.
S1: I want to ask you , because you're about to attend a rally downtown in just a moment here. So I don't want to keep you any longer.
S3: Um , superpowers or whoever you want to call them. They installed someone there that whose interest is not aligned with the true interest of Iranian people. I'm letting you know. Resistance. Continue. Resistance. Continue. The fight for democracy in Iran has been going on more than 100 years. It might go another few years , but they're not going to settle for nothing. They're not going to settle for that. I'm 100% about I'm sure about that. I'm 75 years old , but I my dreams are like someone who is 18 because I know that that this will happen because that's what the whole , um , whole progress is all about. It's a it's the age of internet. The people see things , the people see that , how the quality of life can be improved , all of those things. And all of this can happen when people can have dialogue like , now , me and you , we have. But once you don't have that freedom to exchange your idea. No , it's. No , that won't last. That won't last.
S1: Well , I really appreciate your insight. And , um , you putting this all into context to help people understand what's happening. I've been speaking with Shahram Homayoun for. He's an organizer with the coalition for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran. Shivram , thank you so very much.
S3: The pleasure is all mine. The pleasure's all mine. Thank you.
S1: That's our show for today.
S4: I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
