Mojtaba Khamenei is being reported as the front-runner to succeed his father, Ali Khamenei, as Iran’s new supreme leader, after the latter was assassinated last weekend.
Jamshid Vafai moved from Iran as a child and now lives in Buffalo. While the U.S. and Israeli militaries are now involved, Vafai believes the determining factor still has to be Iranian citizens.
“Most news outlets and covering what's going on, they totally dismiss the Iranian people as a factor. They're treating them as spectators and sidelines," he said. "And it's not the case; it's not the case because they are a major player. They are a major factor here, they are the force. They're the driving force.”
It presents a moral dilemma because he doesn’t approve of the violence caused by Israel and the U.S., but he also is hopeful that the actions will bring about the change that many want. He said he knows some Iranians are even thankful for bombings and feel it’s worth dying in the process as long as the current regime is removed.
Still, the new choice of leader, combined with continued bombings by Israel and the U.S., make him concerned that the situation will get worse.
“I think it's going to escalate, and it's going to get much more (bloody), and that's a very sad thing. And the other thing that's not really being focused is the incredible numbers of deaths," Vafai said. "Maybe there's some discrepancy — because people are throwing numbers all over the place — but, but it's clearly in the tens of thousands."
PBS News reported more than 7,000 protesters were confirmed dead through mid-February. But there have been little-to-no reports since then. By the end of January, outlets like The Guardian, TIME and Al-Jazeera reported the death toll could be more than 30,000, a projected number that came from anonymous officials.
