American who fled Iran says citizens 'desperate' for freedom, praying for Islamic regime to fall
A defiant Iranian regime is reeling from U.S. and Israeli military strikes, but one American who fled Iran as a child says some citizens are thanking the U.S. as a liberator.
Iranian American Armin Assadi said Iranians are dancing near where American bombs have landed, adding that for the first time in 47 years there is hope Iran may be free.
"You can literally see people singing and dancing in the streets, mere blocks away from where the first missile struck. That's craziness to have [to] find hope in being bombed," Assadi said on "Fox & Friends Weekend."
"That's how desperate these people are, and they're thanking America for it," he added.
President Donald Trump said the U.S. has destroyed a majority of Iran’s missile and drone manufacturing sites as a result of Operation Epic Fury — a military campaign that has resulted in the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Assadi said that while few videos have emerged from Iran since the attacks, what he has seen suggests some people support the U.S. campaign. He said some Iranians who have never visited the United States are even doing the "Trump dance."
Assadi added that the "underground church" is praying for America. Despite the support, he voiced "mixed feelings" watching the conflict unfold.
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"People are going to die, but at the same time you can't help feel [a] sense of gratitude and hope that Iran might be free again for the first time in 47 years," Assadi said.
The Pentagon announced a formal investigation into a Feb. 28 strike after Iranian officials claimed more than 100 children were killed at a school next to a military compound.
"You can create all these weird narratives that Iran is against this war, but the regime might be. The people are not," Assadi said.
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"The people are celebrating it and are grateful to God that America stood up," he added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi claimed on Sunday, on "Face the Nation," that President Donald Trump launched attacks against Iran "because it is fun," accusing the United States of starting what he called an "illegal war" during an interview with CBS host Margaret Brennan.
The comments came as the war between the United States and Iran continues to escalate, with the Trump administration signaling the conflict could continue longer than initially anticipated.