‘No control.’ Charlotte Jews, Iranians concerned after US strikes on Iran
When Mansour Mishamandani boarded a flight out of Tehran in 1979, he had no idea that just three weeks after he landed in Charlotte, Iran’s new religious leader would spark a nationwide uprising, sending millions into the streets and launching the Iranian Revolution.
But when he left Iran again this June, exactly two weeks before the U.S. launched a surprise strike on three of the country’s nuclear sites, the sense of collapse felt far more predictable.
“I knew it was going to happen,” said Mishamandani, who has lived in Charlotte for more than 40 years. “I was there for four weeks, and in the last days, I was getting nervous.”
The strike marked the United States’ entry into Israel’s war, the latest consequence of a simmering power struggle that has threatened to destabilize the region for decades. The operation aimed to cripple Iran’s nuclear ambitions, though defense officials say the true extent of the damage may take weeks to assess.
Just hours after the U.S. struck Iran’s Fordo and Natanz facilities and the Isfahan nuclear site, President Donald Trump framed the attack as a limited operation, but warned of further action if Tehran retaliated. On Monday, Iran did just that, firing missiles at a major U.S. military base in Qatar, according to a New York Times report.
For Charlotteans with ties to Iran, the conflict sparked a wave of frantic phone calls to loved ones back home, many of which went unanswered. Some say Saturday felt like a haunting reminder of the Iran-Iraq War, a brutal chapter they left behind before settling in North Carolina.
“I know what it’s like to go to bed not knowing if you’ll wake up the next day,” said an Iranian immigrant who lives in Raleigh, who asked not to be named out of fear of retribution. “The government makes decisions, but it’s real people that suffer.”
Jewish reaction to Iran strike
Iran provides weapons and support to Hamas, the group behind the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered a retaliatory military campaign killing more than 55,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Iran has also backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. Both have ramped up attacks on Israel amid the ongoing war with Hamas.
“Iran has sponsored terror around the world since 1979,” said Adam Kolett, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte. “This is about the safety of the United States, our allies around the world, and the entire global community.”
Kolett says Charlotte’s Jewish community holds a wide range of views on every contentious issue, political and otherwise. But he says there is broad agreement that Iran’s regime is “dangerous and destabilizing,” and that preventing the country from developing nuclear capabilities is essential to protecting lives around the world.
A similar diversity of thought exists at Temple Beth El, where Senior Rabbi Asher Knight said his congregants’ views are shaped by personal experiences and political beliefs, some more supportive of America’s role in the war than others. Still, he said, many recognize that military action may be necessary to prevent greater human suffering.
“We can be grateful for a decisive action taken to prevent a nuclear crisis, but it’s not a time for celebration,” said Knight. “Every missile that’s shot is a reminder of what the world has failed to build.”
Iranian reaction to strike
Growing up in Iran, Eby Ghafarian came to loathe Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic Revolution and the regime he blames for the deaths of many friends. More than three decades after settling in Charlotte, he holds a similar contempt for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who rose to power in 1989 as Iran’s supreme leader after the Iran-Iraq War.
As the country has continued to assert itself as a regional force, Ghafarian’s distrust hasn’t waned. He criticizes the current regime as he did the one he fled in 1979, and applauds the United States for taking action against it.
“I think they should have done it sooner,” said Ghafarian. “I think they need to go in there and bomb them a little bit more.”
Although some of his family members have been injured in Israeli strikes, Ghafarian doesn’t think the U.S. will target Iran’s residential areas. He considers the latest military action necessary, and believes whatever comes next for Iran will be better than the current regime.
“I want the government in Iran gone,” said Ghafarian. “If those people get hold of the nuclear power, they would destroy the whole world.”
Fears of backlash
Some, including Mishamandani, worry about the war’s local ramifications. He remembers the weeks after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing when his Iranian friend was assaulted by white nationalists in one of several attacks on Muslims and Arab Americans. That violence was the result of misplaced suspicion toward people of Middle Eastern descent, and Mishamandani said he hopes current conflicts don’t fuel similar backlash.
At Temple Beth El, congregants share similar concerns about their safety, said Rabbi Knight, especially those who feel they’ve been living “on edge” for years. Just as troubling, he said, is the tendency to conflate the actions of any government with Jewish people at large — most of whom are American citizens caught in the middle of global tensions they didn’t choose.
“We have no control over it,” said Knight. “All Jews, regardless of opinion, become targets.”
The U.S. strike did little to shift Mitch Bollag’s view of the Trump administration, which he holds, alongside President Biden’s administration, responsible for fueling the conflict in the Middle East. He believes America has enabled what he describes as Israel’s ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians.
“Israel could not pursue its policies without the support of the United States,” said Bollag, a member of the Charlotte chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. “I think that’s terrible.”
But on Monday night, as Trump announced on social media that Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire, some community leaders were already thinking well beyond the coming days. Rabbi Knight emphasized that supporting the dignity of Iranians is not at odds with supporting Jewish safety and self-determination, and said that he and his congregants remain committed to the work ahead.
“We have to reject false binaries that pit people’s rights against another people’s existence,” said Knight. “True peace is going to require honoring a lot of narratives.”
