Many Iranians in the U.S. with family back in Iran have been having a very difficult time staying in touch as bombs continue to drop around the country. That’s creating a lot of anxiety and worry.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Many Iranian Americans celebrated the first days of the war, but that excitement is fading into anxiety as they struggle to get news from their loved ones back in Iran amid widespread internet blockades. Kelly McEvers reports from Los Angeles.
KELLY MCEVERS, BYLINE: Alborz Pakravan went to his first protest in Iran in 2009, after an election many thought was rigged. After that, Pakravan says he had an asterisk next to his name. He wasn’t allowed to apply for grad school. So he came to the U.S., got a PhD in economics, then went back to Iran, did mandatory military service. But still, one of his officers was suspicious.
ALBORZ PAKRAVAN: And he was like, we’re just going to notify you that if you make any mistakes, you will be beheaded, you will be executed.
MCEVERS: Now Pakravan lives in Phoenix, works as an engineer in the semiconductor industry. His parents, his sister and her children are still in Iran. When the war first started, he was able to talk to his family for about 10 minutes. His dad was celebrating.
PAKRAVAN: And he said, I can’t believe it, this is so good, this is so happy. And he was cheerful and jumping.
MCEVERS: In the first days of the war, a lot of the conversations went like this. Iranian Americans who don’t support the regime were happy the U.S. and Israel had killed regime leaders. And Pakravan is still optimistic. He believes the U.S. and Israel will stick to military targets, not civilians, and maybe the regime will fall.
PAKRAVAN: This is the first time I could envision a different country.
MCEVERS: But as the war goes on and people have less and less contact with their family and friends in Iran, that attitude is changing, says Iranian American Roozbeh Farahanipour. He’s still in touch with friends in Iran who are lucky enough to have satellite phones, and what he’s hearing is not good. One friend had the windows blown out of her apartment after an explosion. Then that same friend was on the phone with her cousin…
ROOZBEH FARAHANIPOUR: And middle of the conversation, phone got disconnected. Right now, it’s almost for 24 hours, they couldn’t find out and talk to them or reach out to them to see if they are alive or not.
MCEVERS: Farahanipour owns two restaurants in the Westwood neighborhood of LA. That’s where most of the Iranian businesses are. Mohammad Ghafarian runs a little shop in Westwood that sells Iranian tea, coffee, sweets and produce. He says he’s glad the U.S. and Israel killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but now he’s worried.
MOHAMMAD GHAFARIAN: We are worried for our country, for our friends, for our family, and we have no communication with them.
MCEVERS: As he’s talking, an older Iranian man comes to buy a magazine.
GHAFARIAN: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
MCEVERS: The articles are all about Nowruz, the Iranian new year that’s coming up in a few weeks.
GHAFARIAN: But the war doesn’t happen when this one was published.
MCEVERS: The war hadn’t happened when this issue was published, Ghafarian says. The date on the magazine is February 27. Ghafarian says in just those few days, he has stopped sleeping, and he’s totally lost contact with his people in Iran – three brothers, two sisters, nieces, nephews, friends. His wife managed to talk to one friend in the Iranian city of Isfahan.
GHAFARIAN: And there was bombing and shelling everywhere in that city. But people are happy. People are happy because they want to get rid of this regime. You know, it’s hard to bomb your country and you be happy. This is very sad.
MCEVERS: That city with the bombing and shelling everywhere is the same city where Alborz Pakravan’s family is. He’s the optimistic guy at the beginning of this story. He says he’s still not letting himself get worried, but he hasn’t heard from his family in six days.
For NPR News, I’m Kelly McEvers in Los Angeles.
(SOUNDBITE OF BADBADNOTGOOD’S “CONFESSIONS (FEAT. LELAND WHITTY)”)
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
