PITTSBURGH, PA (PTTP)— With the ongoing war between Iran and the United States, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had led the Islamic Republic since 1989 and clashed with the United States and Israel over its nuclear program, was killed in a military strike on Saturday.
The U.S. has shut its embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Beirut after retaliatory Iranian drone attacks across the Middle East, sparking concern of political destabilization within the region. Nonemergency American personnel were ordered to evacuate 6 Gulf countries at the beginning of this week. President Trump is expecting the war to last for weeks, as Israel makes advancements in Lebanon target Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. Iran and Lebanon have faced recent airstrikes.
According to Iran’s Red Crescent, nearly 1000 people have been killed so far in Tehran as a result of Israeli and American strikes. Six U.S. service members died in action, 11 people were killed in Israel, and 9 were killed in the Gulf as a result of Iran’s retaliatory strikes. Funeral services were held for the hundreds of Iranian schoolgirls who were killed on the first day the war broke out.
In the US, stock futures prices and energy prices are higher than expected, raising fears that this will disturb the long-term conditions of the stock market. Iranian-Americans in Pittsburgh are mostly celebrating the end of the Ayatollah’s repressive regime; however, areas in Tehran have experienced a complete internet blackout, making it difficult for Iranians in the US to reach out to their family. Pittsburgh-area public safety officials have stated that they will increase security precautions since this falls during the Islamic month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Purim.
The destruction in Iran has sparked both hope and anger in Pittsburgh. On Monday, dozens protested near the City-County Building steps in Downtown Pittsburgh to protest U.S. and Israeli intervention in Iran. However, the day before, a celebratory rally by Iranians was held at the Cathedral of Learning in response to the Ayotollah’s death, with signs held in the crowd including “Thank you, Trump!” and the waving of Iranian flags.
As tensions in the region continue to escalate, the convoluted emotions that sparked as a result of this week’s attacks serve as a testimony of the Iranian diaspora’s experiences living in the United States, and whether this will be viewed as an advancement or a threat to the political stability of the region.