Joy of UK's Iranian diaspora turning to fear as conflict rocks homeland

LONDON, March 5 - In an area of London known as Little Tehran, the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prompted spontaneous street parties, dancing and fireworks. Shoppers still smile as some stores hand out sweet pastries, traditional in Persian culture when there's cause for celebration. Read more at straitstimes.com.

LONDON, March 5 - In an area of London known as Little Tehran, the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prompted spontaneous street parties, dancing and fireworks. Shoppers still smile as some stores hand out sweet pastries, traditional in Persian culture when there's cause for celebration.

But as the bombardment of their homeland enters its sixth day, the joy is beginning to fade.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed, major cities are being pummelled and there is growing concern for uncles, aunts and cousins who cannot be reached in Iran.

"On Saturday night, people were happy, it was amazing," said Mostafa Zaryabi, 44, who works in an Iranian bakery in the Little Tehran area in Finchley, north London, explaining that with the death of Khamenei, who he called "a dictator," he was hopeful there could now be freedom in Iran.

At a gathering of about 200 mostly Iranian British citizens in central London on Wednesday, 38-year-old human rights activist Bita, who did not want to share her surname, spoke of the "happy mood" of Iranians in Britain.

"There's a sense of justice and I think, above all, there's a sense of hopefulness," she said.