‘No one wants war’: Philly advocacy groups react to U.S. bombings in Iran
Iranians across the Philadelphia region were on edge Sunday after the strikes, so were friends and relatives of people living in Israel who feared retaliation.
An Iranian student in Philly was dining with friends Saturday night when a notification buzzed on her phone, silencing the table.
The United States had bombed three of Iran’s key nuclear sites.
Some in the group began crying, while others wondered how things got to this point.
June — an Iranian native who asked to be quoted in The Inquirer by her nickname because she fears retaliation — sat still, grappling with a mix of emotions. Most of all, she worried for her family in Iran.
Iranians across the Philadelphia region were on edge Sunday after the strikes, following weeks of uncertainty and concern for family members in Iran amid an Israeli bombing campaign.
Those with family and colleagues in Israel were also worried about loved ones as Iran has retaliated after prior Israeli strikes, said the president of the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia, which partners with a number of organizations in Israel.
Israel had initially targeted Iranian military and nuclear sites on June 13, killing several top military officials and nuclear scientists. Iran then fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel.
The Associated Press reported that hundreds of people had been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in Iran so far, and two dozen killed and hundreds wounded in Israel.
“I am getting crazy, honestly,” said June, holding back tears. “I can’t do anything; I am just scrolling, taking in the news, can’t sleep; I hate that I am not with [my family].”
The U.S. joins Israel’s campaign against Iran
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but Israel has said its campaign is necessary to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. The strikes came amid Israel’s ongoing war with the Hamas militant group, an Iranian ally, in the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.
U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Iran is not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon, but President Donald Trump and Israeli leaders have argued it could quickly assemble one.
Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, a University of Pennsylvania professor who studies Iranian history and politics, said it’s too early to tell what impact the strikes would have on Iran’s nuclear program. And it’s difficult to predict how its government will respond, she said.
Iranian Americans in Philadelphia and around the country are “diverse and politically divided” in their opinions on relations between the U.S. and Iran, and on Iran’s future, she said.
“However, Iranians and Iranian Americans are generally united in their support for the suffering people of Iran who have become victims of this avoidable war,” Kashani-Sabet said. “Many hope and pray that Iran can recover from this terrible conflict and that peace can prevail.”
‘Finally, the war has been taken to its source’
Michael Balaban, CEO and president of the Philadelphia Jewish Federation, which partners with a number of organizations in Israel, said he was supportive of the U.S. strikes. Iran’s support for Hamas means Israel has been fighting a proxy war since the Oct. 7 attacks, he said, and it was imperative to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
“Finally, the war has been taken to its source: the terrorist regime that is the Iranian government right now,” he said.
He added: “This is not a war against the Iranian people. They need freedom from this regime more so than probably anyone.”
Balaban said he hoped the move would spur negotiations for peace: “No one wants war. War’s gone on way too long, and people want it to end, but we need it to end with peace. We need it to end with people thinking about a future together.”
He said Iranian strikes in Israel had affected his friends, family, and colleagues living there, including some who worked at a hospital that had been badly damaged by a missile, causing light injuries to about 80 people.
“It affects the day-to-day life of everyone,” he said, adding that he plans to travel to Israel in the next few weeks. “Hopefully I’ll be able to get there and work with my colleagues to assess any of the needs they may have, and, at minimum, give them a hug.”
‘It feels like we are in the middle’
Growing up in Iran, June said, she heard nuclear power was useful for money, safety, electricity, medicine, and technological advancements.
“But in our daily life, it didn’t feel that way,” June said. “It ideologically put us under the pressure of sanctions, political struggles, and the isolation of the country.”
Initially, the United States’ strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities gave her hope that Iran’s government would be “less involved with the nuclear weapons,” she said.
But that feeling was soon overtaken by an overwhelming fear. Her loved ones still live in Iran and had recently left Tehran, escaping Israeli strikes.
After the first strikes earlier this month, June said, she lost contact with her family for 48 hours, and the thought of it happening again frightens her.
But, June said, she risks losing her student visa if she returns to Iran. Earlier this month, the Trump administration instituted a travel ban preventing Iranian nationals and citizens of 12 other countries, including Afghanistan, Haiti, Libya, Sudan, and Somalia, from entering the United States.
“It feels like we [the Iranian people] are in the middle. We don’t have any way to get back or go forward,” June said. “I still don’t know how to cope, and my family, they just try to continue their daily life and be hopeful that something good happens.”
Activist groups protested against war before strikes
The U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites followed a Center City protest on Saturday organized by more than a dozen area organizations calling on the U.S. to stay out of war with Iran.
They included members of Philly Iranians, a nonprofit June is affiliated with that advocates for women’s rights in Iran. While critical of the Iranian regime, group members told WHYY they were scared for family members who had to evacuate Tehran amid Israel’s bombing campaign, and did not believe war with Israel would lead to regime change.
The group planned to host a gathering to emotionally support Iranian Philadelphians on Sunday evening in Washington Square.
Other groups organizing the protest included Jewish Voice for Peace Philadelphia, a local chapter of the national pro-Palestinian, anti-Zionist activist group, Philly Families for Ceasefire, and Prayers for Peace Alliance.
Sam Kuttab, a cofounder of Prayers for Peace Alliance, said he’d just returned from Saturday’s rally when he learned of the U.S. strikes from a relative.
“My heart fell,” he said. “What is the purpose? It’s a disaster.”
As a Palestinian, he has felt the pain of the war in Gaza, he said: Two of his family members were killed in an Israeli strike while sheltering in a church in Gaza. As an American, he feels failed by the executive branch, questioning whether Trump ordered the bombings simply to demonstrate the country’s might.
Kuttab said he feels Palestinians are now caught in the middle of a larger conflict between Israel and Iran.
“Iran is doing what it is doing for its own purposes, not because they are coming to the aid of Palestinians,” Kuttab said.
This article contains information from the Associated Press.