State media confirmed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on Saturday, after the United States and Israel launched the most ambitious attack on Iranian targets in decades.
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"Mary", of Gorgan, Iran, who now lives in Dunedin, said she had been attempting to call friends and family since Saturday, but was having difficulties due to the Iranian regime’s internet blackout.
The Otago Daily Times has agreed not to use her real name for fear of repercussions by the regime.
"I actually got the news by a call from my friend in Iran. She called me and she said that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is gone. He’s dead.
"I was shocked. I didn’t believe it at first. But then when I realised, I was happy and tears of joy. And, you know, I was like, ‘is this really happening?"’
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Mary said she had tried to follow the protests against the Iranian regime over the past few weeks.
"Right now, there are a lot of very different opinions, both inside Iran and outside Iran between the Iranian diaspora.
"But the main thing is that they want the regime change and they want the Islamic Republic gone."
"You wouldn’t say that it’s the best option, but it is the option that is available and it’s reliable. We are not after monarchy or kingship or anything like that. We just want some person that can actually speak out for us.
"He is a well-educated person, brought up in a royal family, so he has manners and everything, and he would have a good presentation of the Iranian society everywhere."
Mary said she had been impressed with Israel and the United States’ "targeted air-strikes".
"With the past experience of the 12-days conflict last year, what we saw was that Israel only targeted the military bases and the nuclear bases.
"So they know exactly where they are hitting, unlike what the Iranian government is doing. I heard that they are hitting the Dubai airport.
"That’s not humane at all."
Fellow expat Roozbeh Karimi, who has lived in Dunedin since 2022, said the situation was fraught.
While he welcomed the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he and others were concerned with "the West’s record of interfering in the Middle East".
"We have seen how these interventions have gone in the past.
"I knew people who were so happy that Assad were gone, or Gaddafi, or Saddam. And then, you know, millions had to leave their country. Their country was destroyed."
Regime change could be messy, he said.
"If you go online, you see how difficult it is to have a fine conversation between three Iranians, because there are different ideas held by all of them."
Mr Karimi, who described his country of birth as "having suffered one of the ugliest dictatorships for more than 47 years", said he was concerned about the prospect of retribution.
"There are, of course, leaders who have committed crimes, and they have to answer [in the] courts, but I don’t want to have bloodshed.
"And right now, many people are angry and everybody is trying to get somewhere else. So it’s really difficult for Iranians to understand what’s happening."
Mary said events seemed to be happening extremely quickly, and admitted it was hard to know what would happen next.
But her vision remained for a "very well-developed Iran, free of Islamic Republic and where people can have their voices and be able to prosper".
"In Iran, we have so many beautiful places, we have so many natural attractions, so many historical buildings, everything."
One woman said after multiple attempts by Iranian citizens to overthrow the regime, she was grateful to the United States and Israel for their intervention and targeted strikes "in order to be able to take back our country".
Another woman said she was happy for the people in Iran, and, as a member of the Iranian diaspora, hoped to amplify their voices.
"We’re just here in solidarity with them but also celebrating their liberation."
She believed the weekend’s events would trigger liberation of other Middle Eastern countries, clearing the way for secular democracies and freedom of religion and speech. — Additional reporting Ruby Shaw
