Iranian protesters fled ‘hell’ at home, watch war from exile
The Straits Times
Returning to Iran is no longer an option for some protesters. Read more at straitstimes.com.
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq – Iranian activist Farhad Sheikhi fights back tears as he recalls the crack of gunfire and his fellow protesters falling under a hail of bullets. Now, having fled to Iraq, he watches from afar as American and Israeli strikes pound his country.
“I literally saw hell,” said the 34-year-old Iranian Kurd in Sulaimaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan’s second city, as he showed AFP photos he took during recent anti-government protests of bodies lying on the bloodied ground.
But his biggest worry today is for the safety of his family back home.
With the internet under a blackout in Iran, Mr Sheikhi said he relies on a friend who only occasionally manages to get online.
“He calls my father and tells me how they are. That is the only way I get news of them,” he said.
Returning to Iran is no longer an option, according to Mr Sheikhi, whose only remaining dream is to travel to Germany to finish his studies in law.
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