‘You worry’: fears in Iranian community after bombing
Andrew Brown and Tess Ikonomou |
Like many Iranians in Australia, Kambiz Razmara has been watching images coming out of his former country with a great deal of uncertainty.
As missile strikes continue between Iran and Israel, threatening to escalate further, Mr Razmara said community members are worried about family back home.
“When infrastructure is being destroyed, it’s unclear what is to come next. It’s a day-by-day or minute-by-minute proposition for people stranded,” he told AAP.
“You worry because you can’t communicate with loved ones and you don’t know if they’re there or not.”
Mr Razamara, who is the vice-president of the Australian Iranian Society of Victoria, said the difficulty in getting hold of people in Iran had exacerbated the worry many in the community were feeling.
While his own family has been confirmed as safe after the bombing attacks, he was concerned about an escalation of violence in the region.
“A big part of my family is near where the main nuclear reactors are, and if the reactors are bombed, then my whole family is exposed,” he said.
“People are trying to reach people, but you can’t contact people online and you can’t call.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said more than 1000 Australians had registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for assistance in leaving the Middle East.
About 650 Australians in Iran and 600 in Israel had sought help, with Senator Wong saying all options of evacuations were being considered.
“We are assessing very carefully the security implications of the security status of various options. We will provide the assistance we can to get people to safety when it is safe to do so,” she told ABC TV on Tuesday.
“We are making plans to assist Australians where it is safe to do so to safety. But at the moment, the air space continues to be closed and the reason for that is the risk to civilian aircraft of a strike.”
The situation in the Middle East has led many people visiting Iran to also become stuck.
“It is putting a great deal of pressure on people, and practically speaking, people are stranded. Some (community members) have gone for a holiday, and some to deal with family affairs and they can’t return,” Mr Razmara said.
Hundreds of people, including civilians, have been killed in the days since Israel launched a surprise assault on Iranian nuclear and military sites.
The two nations have since exchanged air and missile strikes, with Iran vowing to “open the gates of hell” against its sworn enemy.
More than 224 Iranians have been killed, most of them civilians, since the conflict began on Friday, local authorities said.
In Israel, 24 people have been killed so far in Iran’s missile attacks, all of them civilians.
“I think many people wake up in the morning, they open their phone, they have a look at the news, and they are deeply, deeply unsettled,” Greens senator David Shoebridge told Nine’s Today show on Tuesday.
Liberal senator Dave Sharma, a former Australian ambassador to Israel, said the endgame for Israel was an Iran that can no longer threaten it with annihilation.
“This is a country that has been hell bent on their destruction for at least the last two decades, that’s ideologically committed to wiping out Israel,” he added.
AAP
