Iranian community fearful as regime’s new leader named
The Iranian community in Australia fears their relatives will face reprisals as the regime elects a new hardline leader.
Mojtaba, the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been named by Iran’s clergy as his late father’s successor.
This election challenges US President Donald Trump’s statement that he should be involved in choosing Iran’s supreme leader and signals that the regime intends to continue this way.
It is known that Mojtaba Khamenei is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Australia lists as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Australian Iranian Victoria Association spokesman Kambiz Razmara said many people were unable to contact relatives in Iran.
“I’ve tried calling my cousins, uncles and aunts but I can’t actually get through,” he told AAP.
“People are afraid of what might happen to them and their family members in Iran… this is a very unfortunate reality that we have faced in our history.”
Australia is considering a Gulf country’s request to send troops to the Middle East to help defend against attacks by Iran.
The Albanian government has not yet announced which country made this request.
Iran opened fire on neighboring countries such as the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain following attacks by the United States and Israel that targeted and killed the country’s leader and senior officials.
The conflict has disrupted travel, shipping and global markets ever since.
Mr. Razmara said he hoped the United States would not alienate the Iranians by allowing the regime to continue.
“It’s a pretty scary time for all of our people here, we hope they don’t throw us under the bus,” he said.
“What is very, very clear to our people and to our people in the diaspora is that we are against what is happening in Iran.
“We are sick and tired of corruption, political repression and the fear it instills in people.”
Iran is blocking access to the Strait of Hormuz after the closure of one of the world’s most important oil corridors following the US-Israeli attacks and the rapid rise in oil and diesel prices.
Flights for stranded Australians are operating from the UAE and Qatar to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
More than 1,700 Australians have returned from the UAE since the start of the war.
There were approximately 115,000 Australians in the region at the start of the conflict.
While the coalition has said it is open to Australia helping other countries in the Middle East, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Ted O’Brien has requested a briefing from the federal government.
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