‘Sweet and sour’ moment as Iranian-Australians celebrate amid uncertainty

Like many in the Iranian community in Sydney, Mohammad Hashemi has mixed emotions.

The 33-year-old engineer said he was overjoyed at the news Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed amid US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, but also wary about celebrating foreign intervention and war in Iran.

“No one wants to see their country attacked by another country. But this was one of the biggest things we wanted to see,” Hashemi said from his home in Sydney’s Rhodes.

“So many Iranians were killed because of him. We were being held hostage by him and his regime, so it wasn’t a normal situation. We just want the regime to go.”

He said that a “majority of Iranians will be celebrating today” after Iranian state media confirmed Khamenei’s death on Sunday.

The confirmation followed US and Israel strikes, which were launched at Iran on Saturday, with the stated intention of regime change. In a social media post, US President Donald Trump called Khamenei “one of the most evil people in history”.

In an earlier address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said that Khamenei’s compound had been destroyed, and Revolutionary Guard commanders and senior nuclear officials had been killed.

Iran has called the strikes unprovoked and illegal and responded with missiles fired at Israel and at least seven other countries, including Gulf states that host US bases.

Meanwhile the Iranian-Australian community watches with bated breath, with Hashemi saying many are celebrating the death of Khamenei, while mourning what may come for Iran.

“Innocent people are being killed, and that is terrible news. But we have already lost so many people to this regime, so the most important thing is that they are gone,” he said.

“But I’m really worried what will happen over the next few days and weeks, and what the outcome of this could be. We want to see a democracy in Iran, but It’s not really up to us right now.”

A small crowd gathered on the steps of the Victorian Parliament on Sunday, joyously waving Iranian flags amid several Israeli flags, blaring Gloria Gaynor’s 1970s hit I Will Survive. A similar gathering was planned at Sydney’s Hyde Park at 5pm.

Kambiz Razmara, vice-president of the Australian Iranian Society of Victoria, said the community was watching with anticipation.

“It’s obviously never a great feeling to be confronted with war,” he said.

But Razmara said, after tens and thousands of protesters have been killed, Iranians were celebrating Khamenei’s death.

“This guy, he personifies the oppression,” Razmara said.

“A regime that inflicts this kind of pain on its people doesn’t deserve to be in government.

“I don’t want to say celebratory because it really is a difficult word to use. It’s such a conflicting circumstance, that to say ‘celebratory’ undermines the suffering. But it is almost a kind of hopeful anticipation.”

Another Melbourne man, who did not want his name used, was not hopeful the situation would end well given the long list of countries that have suffered from foreign intervention.

Kamran Keshavarz, as president of the Iranian Football Association in Australia, is uniquely positioned to hear from everyday families in the Iranian community, and said this moment was both “sweet and sour”.

“Despite everyone being very worried at this moment, when the news came through that Khamenei had died, it was a moment of joy for us. But it is soured by it being done by a foreign country like Israel or America.”

He said Iranians still had “a hard, long way before reaching an actual democratic government” while emphasising that most in the community want Iran to become a democracy.

“First and foremost, we want to see a transitional government and a system by which the people on the street can choose their next leader.”

Vice president of the Australian Iranian Community Alliance, Suren Edgar, said many Iranians from different diasporas had called for foreign intervention in Iran because “it’s not realistic to believe the people can do everything by themselves”.

Edgar pointed to anti-regime protests in Australian capital cities in the past month as evidence many in the Iranian-Australian community did not support Khamenei.

“The people of Iran have been fighting to show the world that they are different from the government,” he said.

Edgar said it was “too soon” to discuss who would rule Iran in place of the regime, and was reluctant to offer support to the exiled son of the former shah of Iran, who has been angling to be the transitional leader should the regime fall.

“He has many supporters, but I still think the international community needs to be helpful, and to make sure the regime does not cling to power.”

“Iranian people want peace, they usually do not follow any kind of extreme ideology. In fact, we love celebrations and love life,” he said.

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