MSU students frightened for family in Iran

Editor’s note: Names with asterisks have been changed to protect the safety of the individuals.

Solmav Rezazadeh*, a medical student at MSU, missed a call from her mother Wednesday morning. But for her, simply calling back wasn’t an option.

Rezazadeh’s family is in Iran, the scene of peaceful-turned-violent protests over contested presidential election results.

“I don’t know the next time I’ll be able to talk to her,” she said.

Iranian-American students like Rezazadeh, community members and Iranians who are abroad have been watching with the rest of the world — glued to their e-mail and their cell phones, hoping to hear their families and friends are safe.

Almost two weeks ago, the declaration of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory in Iran’s presidential election over opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi sparked the largest series of protests since 1979. The resulting violence has left many dead and those abroad wondering about the safety of their families.

Looking from afar

Both Rezazadeh and Sheila Mahmoody*, also an MSU medical student, have family in Iran. Communication is difficult, but both say they received word that their families are safe. Their families are reluctant to say too much over the phone or Internet for fear of monitoring by the government, they said.

The protests and subsequent crackdown have made it dangerous not only for those participating in the movement but also for innocent bystanders.

“Innocent people are being killed — people still have to go out to buy food,” Mahmoody said. “Anything they do they’re at risk. I just hope they’re OK. … You have to be really brave to go out there.”

Despite the danger, Rezazadeh said she still plans to travel to Iran this summer to conduct research.

“I honestly want to be there, I want to see with my own eyes that my (family) is OK and take care of them if need be,” she said. “It’s such a dramatic moment in the history of Iran that I want to be there to experience that.”

Although Rezazadeh said she is concerned about safety when she travels to Iran, she’s more worried about how her parents would react if something were to happen to her.

“If I am to die, I’m obviously not going to notice — it’s a selfish act, death,” she said. “It’s a selfish act because it leaves your family and friends to suffer and to deal with everything that comes as a result of that.”

Speaking out

Iranian Americans and Iranians living in the U.S. haven’t remained silent on the issue.

A rally organized by Mahmoody and Rezazadeh drew about 70 people to the Capitol Building lawn Tuesday.

“We just felt it was important for us first personally because we have family there and we’re both very much in tune with what’s going on there,” Mahmoody said.

“Secondly, because we live here it was pretty much our responsibility to make everyone else aware of what’s going on because it does deal with things that are applicable to everyone (like) human rights.”

Rezazadeh said the rally allowed them to gather other Iranians and Iranian Americans together to express the rights those in Iran couldn’t.

“It’s the bare minimum of what we can do because we have the privilege and the opportunity to not have to think about it if we wanted to,” Rezazadeh said.

“We could turn off the news and pretend like this isn’t happening right now and that’s what so many people unfortunately do.”

Bob Alexander, former 8th U.S. Congressional District Democratic candidate, attended the rally in support of the protesters in Iran.

“What’s going on in Iran is very, very important to the whole world, and despite the fact of the Supreme Leader (Khamenei) saying ‘don’t do this anymore,’ people are willing to take on abuse, they’re losing their lives to say ‘we want fair elections,’” Alexander said.

A complex system

Iran’s government is a parallel system, said Ani Sarkissian, an assistant professor of political science at MSU.

There is an elected president and parliament but also a body called the Guardian Council, which is made up of clerics and oversees the actions of the president and parliament. At the top of the political system is the Supreme Leader, currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Supreme Leader confirms the winner of the presidential election as well as overseeing other aspects of the government. Khamenei endorsed Ahmadinejad a week after the pronouncement of his victory over Moussavi.

Sarkissian said at this point it is unclear if there were any irregularities in regard to the election. Many Iranians are upset about some votes not being counted, leading the Iranian government to institute a recount.

On Tuesday, the Iranian Parliament said Ahmadinejad will be sworn in later this summer.

Sarkissian said it will be interesting to see what happens next and if the protests will continue in the face of the government crackdown.

“It demonstrates to the world that there is some dissatisfaction with the current president and how things are going in the country,” she said. “In terms of whether anything is going to change, I don’t think much will change right now, but it’s early so it’s hard to tell.”

A matter of understanding

Rezazadeh said their target audience are those who don’t agree with their cause.

“It’s those individuals who disagree that we need to open dialogue with,” she said. “Most of the time it’s misunderstanding, misinformation or miscommunication that leads them to think that way.”

Mahmoody said it’s frightening that people remain uninformed given all of the media coverage.

“Most of us have CNN up or some other news Web site, you can get an idea of what’s going on. If there are people still out there (who) think the regime represents the feeling of the people and they want this to be happening, that’s pretty frightening,” she said. “There’s so much information available even though there’s a ban on foreign media (and) they’ve slowed the Internet and are taking away cell phones. We still have footage of what’s going on. We still have access in America.”

Balancing act

Mahmoody and Rezazadeh have one week left of their classes to complete their first year as medical students at MSU. They say it’s been difficult to balance their academics while worrying about family and monitoring the situation in Iran.

“(It) feels so nonsensical right now and just sitting down and memorizing drugs for pharmacology,” Rezazadeh said. “I feel so disconnected from my academics right now because life is happening, and who wants to sit down and memorize drugs when there is so much more going on?”