'It's escalating every minute': Iranian woman living in N.L. watches conflict with worry
CBC
An Iranian woman living in Newfoundland and Labrador says she's watching attacks between Israel and Iran with worry for her family back home.
"I've been refreshing Twitter and the news since, like last night," Aysan, who has been in the province for five years, said Friday evening. CBC News is only referring to her by her first name to protect her family still in Iran.
"[I'm] obviously very worried, because it is escalating every minute.
Israel attacked Iran early Friday morning with a barrage of airstrikes that killed top military officials, nuclear scientists and hit about a hundred targets, including nuclear and missile sites, in what appears to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since the 1980s.
Aysan told CBC News it's been troubling to watch the attacks from afar, saying she feels survivor's guilt. She and her family have taken comfort in the fact that residential areas haven't yet been targeted.
"I'm worried about them, and I'm worried about escalation," she said.
Iran's state news agency reported Friday afternoon that Iran had fired hundreds of ballistic missiles toward Israel as part of a retaliation effort.
Leaders in Canada and around the world have condemned Israel's attack, calling for immediate de-escalation from both sides.
Military officials killed include high ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Canada named an terrorist organization in June 2024.
Despite the danger Iranians are under, Aysan said she and others in Newfoundland's Iranian community have found a form of comfort in knowing those who have harmed Iranians are gone.
"Those were the ones that, like, ordered killing a lot of people during the protest," she said, citing 2020 protests when the Guard shot down a Ukrainian airliner. It killed 176 people, including 55 Canadians.
"Most people feel that, like, happiness underneath. But, of course, we are worried about our families."
Justin Fantauzzo, a history professor studying the modern Middle East at Memorial University, told CBC News Friday the conflict between the two countries is well documented. There are a few key issues that have incited this chapter of conflict.
They centre around the development of Iran's nuclear weapons program, which Fantauzzo said Israel views as an existential crisis.
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