Amin Pishehvar is one of more than 100 Northeastern community members from Iran or of Iranian descent watching “Operation Epic Fury” from afar. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

by Tanner Stening

Northeastern Global News

Amid news of the start of a U.S. and Israeli major military operation on Saturday, Safa Jamali, a Northeastern assistant professor of mechanical engineering who immigrated to the U.S. from Iran, said that most of his Iranian friends and relatives felt a sense of cautious optimism that “change is coming.”

But in the 48 hours since the initial strikes, that qualified hope has diminished. Information from friends and family on the ground has been sparse as the near-total internet blackout that began in the wake of January’s nationwide protests continues to stifle efforts to reach loved ones, Jamali said.

“Obviously in these situations you hope for the best,” Jamali told Northeastern Global News. “But this is a war, right? There is no such thing as a war in which only bad people are taken out. These are real lives, real people.”

Like the more than 100 Northeastern students and faculty members from Iran or of Iranian descent, Jamali is watching the events unfold from afar with a mix of hope and fear for both the country’s future and the safety of those they love.

The reaction within Iran to the military strikes — part of what the U.S. has dubbed “Operation Epic Fury” — are also mixed. Supporters of the regime gathered in Tehran over the weekend to mourn the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. At the same time, celebrations rang out at gatherings across the Middle Eastern nation and elsewhere, underscoring the deep scars left by years of violence and repression.

Amin Pishehvar, a Ph.D. electrical engineering student at Northeastern, was at such a gathering in Boston when he learned of Khamenei’s death.

“When I heard the news, I called my family,” Pishehvar said. “I could hear sounds of happiness coming from the streets.”

But any feelings of joy are felt against the backdrop of a sense of tremendous uncertainty about what lies ahead. Saturday was the last time Pishehvar spoke with his parents and brother, who live in Shiraz, a cultural hub located in the southern part of Iran.

Pishehvar spent the first 26 of his 29 years in Shiraz, where he completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees before moving to the United States in 2022 to pursue his Ph.D. at Northeastern.

Hossein Dabbagh, an assistant professor in applied ethics on Northeastern’s London campus, is less optimistic about the prospect that U.S. and Israeli intervention will lead to a positive outcome for the Iranian population.

“I am coping poorly, to be honest,” said Dabbagh, who has written at length about Iranian civil society. “I feel anxious and I keep worrying that this will not be a brief episode but the start of something longer and more destructive.”

He said the U.S. and Israel “seem intent” on “degrading Iran’s infrastructure, with civilians increasingly paying the price” for what U.S. officials have described as a preemptive operation to protect American interests. The Iranian regime’s response, which has included strikes across many other countries in the area, has been “erratic and dangerously expansive,” Dabbagh added.

“When each side treats escalation as the only language left, the space for reason collapses,” he said. “I can only hope they return to the negotiating table and end this madness.”

As the U.S. and Israeli assault on Iran enters its fifth day, U.S. officials have signaled that the bombing campaign could stretch on for four or five weeks. Six American service members have died in the war so far, with at least 787 deaths recorded in Iran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, a non-governmental humanitarian organization based in Iran.

Global stock markets have also tumbled in response, and oil prices have surged amid concerns of a wider war, with leaders warning that sustained fighting would lead to “war-induced inflation” and deepen economic uncertainty far beyond the region.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said that several officials once viewed as potential successors to Iran’s leadership had already been killed in the joint bombing campaign.

Amir Abdollahi, a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in industrial engineering at Northeastern, said the ongoing escalation has to be understood in the context of the years of economic decline and political repression that have left many Iranians feeling “exhausted and unheard.”

“We need to look beyond the headlines,” Abdollahi, who also grew up in Iran, said. “People are fighting for their dignity, for their freedom and for their souls.”