Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday would be the most intense day of the United States’ war on Iran. That's just a day after President Trump sent mixed signals on when the war might end.
How are local Iranian Americans processing the conflict in their homeland?
On Cincinnati Edition, we talk with two local Iranian Americans who are trying to reach loved ones abroad.
Guests:
- Sheida Soleimani, an artist who grew up in Cincinnati whose parents were imprisoned in Iran
- Reza Mehr, a Cincinnati resident born and raised in Iran
This interview was pre-recorded so we can't take your phone calls.
A transcript of this conversation is below.
This episode was transcribed using a combination of AI speech recognition and human editors and has been lightly edited for clarity. It may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.
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Lucy: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday would be the most intense day of the United States war on Iran just a day after President Trump sent mixed signals on when the war might end. How are local Iranian Americans feeling about all this? This is Cincinnati Edition on WVXU, I'm Lucy May. Joining me in this recorded interview are Sheida Soleimani, an artist who grew up in Cincinnati, whose parents escaped imprisonment in Iran and Reza Mehr, a Cincinnati resident, born and raised in Iran. Thank you both for being here today.
Lucy: Reza, what was your first reaction when you heard about the US and Israeli strikes in Iran?
Reza: To be honest, we were expecting that. It wasn't a propped it wasn't a surprise. Of course, the fact that they targeted Iran's supreme leader, that was a surprise. That was a pleasant surprise, actually, but the overall thing was not a surprise. We were kind of waiting for it.
Lucy: What about you, Sheida, what was your first reaction?
Sheida: It was just a matter of when, it wasn't a matter of if. I had just visited my parents in Albuquerque, and we were sitting down and watching TV, when my Baba was like, you know, checking in and saying, has it happened yet? Has it happened yet? No one has ever really been sure what to expect from this type of situation.
Lucy: Sheida, what were your thoughts about the death of the Supreme Leader?
Sheida: Well, of course, I mean, you know, honestly, I wish that he had been brought to criminal court so he could have actually been served justice for all of those that he'd murdered. There's not oftentimes in this world that I celebrate death. But I'm very glad that the butcher mullah is gone, but now, you know, it seems that there is just this veil of that was just an excuse to start a war in the country.
Reza: Yeah, I agree with with Sheida completely. I wish we could have that Supreme Leader basically take him to the court. And I wish he could answer to all the murder, all the misjustice that he -- everything that he did to Iran, to my family, to her family, to everybody's family. But you know, overall, I'm a very pragmatic person. I'm like, him being dead is better than him being alive. I wish we could get him alive and we could take him to court, but now that we couldn't, I'm happy with his death.
Lucy: And Reza, you lived under that Supreme Leader...
Reza: 28 years, yeah. 28 years.
Lucy: What was your experience like?
Reza: If I may, I know that you asked about my experience. But if I may, let me quote from my mom. Not this round of protests, the round of protests before this 2023 woman, life, freedom. I remember, the Internet was shut off for, I think, two weeks or so. I'm don't, please don't quote me on that. I think a week or two, and then when the internet came back, when I called my mom, the very first sentence that she said, she was like, "Reza, I was suffocating." And I think that was really how it was living under that regime for you know, for 28 years, it feels like a slow suffocation, to be honest. The oppression that you see everywhere, especially oppression of woman, oppression of like minorities, like obviously, I'm a man, I'm a majority in that society. So I can't understand how it feels like to be a woman. I can only guess how it feels like to be a woman in that society, or how it feels to be a minority. So this is, I guess this is why I'm happy with his death.
Lucy: Sheida, do you support the action the US and Israel are taking right now?
Sheida: I vehemently oppose this. This is a reminder to me. I am a child that grew up post 9/11 in Ohio, which was an extremely racist place to grow up as a Middle Eastern child. America is not going to save Iran, while I am extremely happy that the butcher nullah is gone, his son is now in power. You know, I am not happy that hundreds of school girls have been bombed. War always causes civilian deaths. And there is no need. With the military technology that we have now, there is no need to put civilians through this type of action. If they wanted to take out the supreme leader for the people, which is what they should have done. That's where it should have ended. But now, you know, we're seeing talk about oil, nuclear reserves, watching CNN, which, you know, is not exactly the most -- it's progressive for some people -- but it's not the most progressive. There's been no talk about civilian deaths. They're just talking about the state of hormones being, you know, shut down. They're talking about the cost of oil going up. What about the cost of the lives? Lives lost and still Internet being cut off, waiting for responses from family. You know, seeing a WhatsApp message with one check mark, but not both. Has it even been delivered? Will it ever be read?
Lucy: Reza, what are your thoughts on this war?
Reza: What I would like to do first is to give your audiences context. The context that I would like to frame everything that, at least I am going to say in this conversation with that context. And the context is, nobody likes war. War is not good, for sure. I think war exists because it's a necessary evil. You know, as an Iranian American, I watched my homeland suffer on this under this regime. This is not just an authoritarian regime. This is really an oppression machine that kills tens of thousands of people just in crackdowns alone. So now, how I would like to use that context to say I understand what she says, and I really feel her argument. I understand, but at the same time, I think there was just no other solution. And I have my argument for why there was no other solution. You know I have, mainly, I have three arguments. The argument number one is the peaceful change has been tried and crushed nearly every time that we tried it. Let me give you just two examples. 2009 silent protest, or Green Movement protest. That was the very last protest that I was involved when I was in Iran I was there, and I actually attended that protest. I am not exaggerating, millions of Iranians. We were in the street, and no one was saying any word, because that was the point we wanted to protest in a most progressive, in a most civilized way possible. And that was that's why we call it silent protest. But that protest basically met with arrest, torture, sham trials. I apologize for using even that term, rape, lots of rape in prison and killing, lots of killing. Let's fast forward. I'm jumping from so many other things that happened, but let's jump forward to January 2026 a protest that basically sparked by economy collapse and huge, huge corruption from the government. But then immediately that protest became the bloodiest protest ever, at least in Iranian history. The government itself says 3,000 deaths. So many people are estimating between 6,000 to even 30,000 deaths, only in two days. So we can argue about numbers, obviously, because the government is basically shutting down every way that we could possibly check the numbers. But let's even go with the number that government says, 3,000 deaths. That's horrifying. That's horrifying. And so I guess my point is, Iranian people have tried peaceful protest, have tried reform. It just didn't work. And I think the war can possibly, possibly level the ground so for us versus the government, I have, again, I have two more argument, but I'm going to let you, you know, direct me if you want me to go ahead or you want to talk to,
Lucy: Well, Reza, I want to follow up on something Sheida said though, too, that -- I think the point that I heard her make earlier was, if the goal was to get rid of the Supreme Leader, why not have that surgical strike instead of all these airstrikes that are that are causing civilian casualties and killing children and people who have nothing to do with the regime?
Reza: Yeah, absolutely. I think that's a fantastic observation, but I think we can see, we can see the answer on our TV. We can see the answer in real life. So the if the argument was, let's kill Supreme Leader, and everything is going to be solved or the regime is going to collapse. We kill the Supreme Leader, but the regime didn't collapse. But, you know, that was the claim that Sheida made. So obviously, like, let's see what she says.
Lucy: Yeah, what do you think Sheida?
Sheida: Well, the regime hasn't collapsed. His son is in power, and so that means if they want to take him out, they're going to what? Have to do more bombings, or create more bombings? We're looking at Gaza as this blueprint. We're looking at Iraq, the 2004 invasion of Afghanistan. Every time there has been U.S. interference, imperialism, really, in any way in the history of OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries established at the Baghdad Conference, Iran is one of five founding members. Every time there has been U.S. intervention in the greater Middle East and North African area, it has been to gain control of something. It has never, ever been for the actual freedom of the people. And I agree with Reza. I mean, you know, I've watched, and my parents have watched, and all of my family, besides my Mama and Baba, they're in Iran. We have heard of the brutality. We've seen it. And of course, American news doesn't cover half of what's happening. The streets were covered in blood in January, and we were asking for intervention, for the United Nations to intervene. And of course, I think many of us did expect war. But at this point, I think a lot of Iranians, there is this division of people are like, okay, well, it's going to be better. And I hope that they are right, but it is hard to imagine that, you know, black rain falling from the sky, children being bombed, untargeted missiles dropping, flattening. I mean, if this is not the cost, and in which cases, have we ever seen a war like this bring freedom or peace? There's really no historical precedent that I can see that is going to bring me relief.
Lucy: I want to talk to both of you about what you're facing right now in terms of trying to get in touch with family who is still in Iran but Reza, first, you said you had some other points you'd like to make about the conflict. I want to give you that opportunity.
Reza: This war, as bad as it is, is basically preventing a devastating civil war. January 2026 protest wasn't about politics. Wasn't about opinion. It was about economy, Iranian economy that was basically on a free fall. And when the economy is falling, no matter what you do, without any intervention, I mean external intervention, like war, there is going to be another uprising, and the uprising and uprising are going to be inevitable. You cannot just kill people and force them to stay home when they don't have anything to eat. So there is gonna be another uprising very soon. We are not talking about six years from now. We are talking about six months from now. And since people saw what happened in January and how brutal the regime was. People know that regime is going to come to kill, and therefore people will also come to kill. Now take that as a background and add disaffected youth, disaffected ethnic minorities and even disaffected security forces. So this is basically a recipe for Syria 2.0. So honestly, I believe as horrible, as bad as this war is as Sheida beautifully put, I think this war is kind of preventing a civil war. Again, Sheida mentioned that girl school, that children's school, which was devastating for everybody, no question about that. And so many other casualties, even casualties from the regime itself. They are still Iranians. They are still our blood, our you know, they are our people, basically, and they are human beings. But we need to accept the fact that, surprisingly, this war has lower casualties compared to the alternative. And I am horribly sorry that I am making this comparison. In January 2026, again, till the very last protest, saw 30,000 deaths in just two days. That's very important context, only two days. And in contrast, this war reported only 1,300 deaths, mostly military. Again, they are still human beings. Every one death is a disaster. But this regime is so brutal, so hard in making any changes, so brutal that makes a war a good looking deal. Casualties definitely will rise as war escalates, for sure. But remember, people do not want this regime. Economy is collapsing, and Donald Trump, like him or not, signaled that this war could end at any moment by unconditional surrender from the regime. But the regime doesn't want to do that. So again, compared to if no war, another, another protest wave, could kill tens of thousands more from this regime. So I think, I think I think the real question is, which one do we want? We want United States surgical targeted strikes with some mistakes that are horrible? Or we want just mass shooting of Iranians by the regime? Which one do we want?
Lucy: Sheida, Reza just mentioned that President Trump has signaled that this war could be over quickly. He sometimes said the war will be over quickly. What do you think about that? I mean, President Bush said the same of Iraq and that war lasted --
Sheida: Yeah, Operation Iraqi Freedom. I mean, like, I don't think anyone is truly free, and it's not, you know, like, while we would like to make people feel free, where America wants to create freedom. It has never, ever, ever done that. Do I believe Trump? Absolutely not. There's no way that I can believe that man. Do I believe that he cares about freedom for the Iranian people? He doesn't even care about freedom for American people. So why would I believe that he would care about Iranian people? This is all war propaganda. He wants access to something. Israel wants access to something. And we've seen this happen before. Now again, am I happy that, you know, the regime is starting to be toppled, that the Supreme Leader was taken out? Absolutely, I'm happy. I mean, that man, no one I, you know, oftentimes I don't say people deserve death, but that man did. But at what cost? And I will continue to say this, I don't trust that the U.S. government is in this to create freedom. We have had many projects in which we could look at to see if freedom has been created and nothing has been created except for destruction, for power vacuums, for instability. We could say the same with Libya and Gaddafi, Iraqi Freedom, Afghanistan. I could go on and on, Syria, Lebanon, like, what is going to happen to Iran is my biggest worry.
Reza: Can I have a very quick reaction to what she said? First of all, I think Sheida is 100% right with everything that she said. And also, I understand the discomfort and anxiety that you know when when another country is basically bombing your regime. But what she says is basically the discourse of change must comes from, come from within that that's basically what she says. And again, I 100% agree with her --
Sheida: But it can't if the regime suppresses it. I understand that.
Reza: Sheida, you said what I wanted to say exactly. Unfortunately, the regime doesn't let us do that, and my only hope is this war somehow magically, maybe because Iranian people are very united people, maybe because we have united opposition now. Maybe morale in Iran, even under the bombing of United States, morale of Iranian people is very high. Maybe our culture, maybe our history, somehow create a different outcome Overall, I think this war levels the playing ground hopefully.
Lucy: We're talking in this recorded interview with Iranian Americans about the war in Iran, their fears and hopes for the future. Sheida, we referenced this briefly, but your parents had to flee Iran after spending time in prison. Talk to us just a little bit about their story, about the family you still have there, and whether you've been able to talk with relatives in Iran.
Sheida: I think this is an important bit of history that a lot of Americans don't understand about Iran, especially because people are looking at Pahlavi right now, and you know, wanting a monarch to come back into power. If you look at the history of Iran, 1952 Mossadegh was democratically elected, toppled in the CIA coup d'etat. Now, the Shah was instilled by, you know, both the British governments in the U.S. to be friendly to the west. And so many people you know, especially when they're looking at the restrictions on women in Iran, they say, oh my gosh, the Shah allowed women to not wear hijab. There was freedom. And while there were those freedoms, there was extreme lack of freedom of speech. People were being executed. People were being killed. So when the 1979 revolution happened, it originally was against the Shah, the Shah's dictatorship that it had become, and my parents were opposed to the Shah, and that's when they originally began becoming politically active. But when the Shah was, you know, overturned, when he fell and the Ayatollah came into power, no one knew, you know what was going to happen. They didn't know. That the Ayatollah was going to come in at all, or that if they did know that he was going to come in, a lot of people didn't know what to expect, and when he came in, it was even more brutal than the Shah's regime. My parents were imprisoned, my mother in solitary confinement under the Ayatollah's government. So my parents were not only opposed to the Shah, they were opposed to the Ayatollah, and that is a very important distinction to make, because there was one that was evil, and then there was one that was even more evil. Eventually, my father fled. He escaped over the mountains on horseback, a three week journey with smugglers that took him across the border. My mom, when she tried to escape, was caught at the border. She's put into solitary confinement for almost a year, separated from my sister who was a small child. As a child, I grew up with these gallows-style executions, they actually don't put bags over their heads. The, you know, Ayatollah's regime has made people feel scared and brutalized them into suppression by these fear tactics for so long. You know, I think the original thing to remember is that there is a huge, huge history of U.S. interventionism. There is a history of dictatorship. Do I feel hope? I can't say that I do. I want to. My family there, they're scared. We have heard so far in the protests that happened in January, two family members were killed by the Iranian regime, and that is just two of them, both very young. One, who actually had two children, was shot in front of his children by a sniper. These are real stories. Of course, the government is awful. I have no words. Thankfully, from these bombings, no one has, you know, been hurt yet. But the city, you know, like we just heard from our aunt and uncle, the city is flattened in so many places. And if we're talking about the collapse of infrastructure, we're looking at a country that has, like, no economic stability. People don't have money. How are we going to rebuild? Who's going to help? Is the United States going to come in and provide money for rebuilding after they've bombed us?
Lucy: Sheida, I'm so sorry about the family members that that you've lost. Reza, have you been able to contact the family that you have there? Because you still have a lot of family there.
Reza: Everybody's there, everybody's there. So specifically to contact you to my parents. And then for the second part, I would like to talk about the response to what Sheida said. First of all, the internet is completely shut off. There is no FaceTime call, which was the primary way that I was talking to my parents. Even the phone line, SMS lines are cut off, so the only way that we can talk to our parents is if they call us over the like a traditional phone call, and the phone call always drops after maybe, like one minute. If I may, let me very quickly react to what Sheida said when she talks about infrastructure, which, again, I agree, like what she says is a fact, the infrastructure is getting destroyed, like she mentioned something a moment ago. The black rain, just for audiences, if they don't know what she means. It means a couple of days ago, Israel basically bombed oil reserves in cities like Tehran, I think Shiraz, I'm not sure, but a couple of cities, and obviously an oil reserve, when you bomb it, there is going to be a huge, you know, pollution, and obviously the fire. And when rain comes back, the rain is black. So this is what she meant by black rain, which is kind of like apocalyptic. It's a scary. But when she talks about infrastructure, I agree with her. But at the same time, I just want to remind you something. A couple of years ago, I don't exactly remember what was. January, 8, 2020 Iran had another problem, another problem with United States. That was exactly the day or couple of days after United States killed Soleimani, the Soleimani, the general. Iran basically shot down a civilian airplane. It's famous as a Ukrainian flight, or the number was 752, the flight number 752. They shot down Iranian civilian airplane full of Iranian kids going to Canada to study. I believe, I believe the real infrastructure of any country is their own people, and this regime is killing its own people. We can fix an oil refinery, we can fix buildings, we can fix a road. It needs money for sure that Sheida mentions that, and it's going to be difficult, no question about that. But the real infrastructure are people, and this regime is killing its own people in a rapid way.
Lucy: Well I have been talking with Sheida Soleimani, an artist who grew up in Cincinnati, whose parents escaped imprisonment in Iran, and Reza Mehr, a Cincinnati resident who was born and raised in Iran. Thank you both so much for your time today.