NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi is among the Iranian-Americans closely watching as the United States and Israel carry out strikes against Iran.
The son of an Iranian neurosurgeon and American nurse, Fatehi was born in the United States and spent part of his childhood in Iran before his family moved to Hampton Roads in 1985.
“Mom and dad thought about my little brother and me and realized that the future my father had when he was a child was not going to be there for my brother and me under the Islamic Republic,” Fatehi said.
Now, as the U.S. military continues operations against Iran, Fatehi watches the situation from afar.
"I think you'd be hard pressed to find an Iranian American whose shedding a tear for Ayatollah or for the Islamic Republic,” he said.
Still, he worries about everyday Iranians caught in conflict.
"And so my my greatest worry right now is for ordinary Iranians, lunch pail guys and ladies who didn't ask to be part of the Islamic Republic and didn't ask to have bombs rained down on them from above,” Fatehi said. “The Iranian people do not want this regime — they want to get out from under it. But the risk is, who are the innocent people who die who didn't sign up for anything, and what’s the plan for tomorrow?”
Though Fatehi left Iran more than 40 years ago, he still has extended family in Tehran.
"We have a few of my father's cousins who are in Tehran — they're okay right now, but we obviously worry. One missile or bomb that goes in the wrong direction and its curtains,” he said.
Fatehi said he has not returned to Iran since leaving as a child, but hopes to do so one day. For now, he continues to follow the situation closely.
