No surprises, says local restaurant owner
TRURO, N.S. – For Mehran Farrokhrouz, the prospect of an Americaniranian war came as no big surprise, given decades of poor relations between the two countries.
“This is the result of long-term conflict between Iran and the United states after the 1979 Revolution,” said Farrokhrouz at his restaurant in Truro. “From that time up to now, they’ve not had any opportunity to negotiate directly together and solve their problems.”
Farrokhrouz said his parents, together with those of his wife Foroozan, still live in Iran.
“If war comes, they are in danger and maybe some of our families and friends will be killed,” said Farrokhrouz. “Our hearts are in Iran and our bodies are in Canada and this is a bad situation for us.”
But he, like Flora Riyahi, was not too worried about Trump’s threat to bomb archaeological and cultural sites. Farrokhrouz said it was likely an attempt by Trump to warn Tehran not to hide missiles or other weapons in places like Persepolis.
“Destroying Persepolis or Esfahan is useless for the United States,” said Farrokhrouz.
Meantime, his son Aryana said customers at his parents’ Saffron restaurant were asking him what he thought of the situation in Iran after Soleimani’s death.
Just a few years ago, Aryana was more hopeful about his birth nation’s future. In 2013, moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani became Iran’s president. He promised to ease tensions with the West and improve the economy at home.
He concluded a deal with the Western powers in 2015 that lifted economic sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program.
“It was the worst situation in Iran and people were very angry and disappointed with the government, but we voted for Rouhani because he talked about peace,” said Aryana. “I’m ashamed of my government, but are Americans ashamed of their politicians?”