Friday night, Maxi Arash, 67-year-old Iranian exiled in Spainhe didn’t take his eye off the news. For those who were watching their country night and day, the imminent attack had kept them awake for weeks. “Suddenly it came the news we had been waiting for 47 years: that in the end you have achieved it; “That all Iranians have achieved,” he says. First, messages from friends and family in Iran talking about explosions; then, a cascade of breaking news notifications. “everything exploded. The phones started ringing, the messages, the networks… I can’t describe the feeling that ran through our bodies,” he explains to EL PERIÓDICO.
“Finally someone, call Trump on Netanyahulend us a hand“, he can barely contain his emotion. For Arash, what happened is read from decades of experience. “People have been suffering for 47 years. “No one can imagine what it’s like to receive a call from a family member or friend saying that they have been arrested,” he says.
The phones rang this Saturday, however, for a very different reason at noon on Saturday: “It was like it was New Year’s Eve, people were congratulating each other“. A member of the community, owner of a restaurant, asked to gather flags and banners to prepare a meeting space so that the Iranian community in diaspora could come together to celebrate.
Iranian exiles express their support for the military intervention of the US and Israel, this February 28, 2026, in Madrid / Assigned
No internet, no family news
To Shohreh Rezaie63 years old, also Iranian in Spain, Saturday was, above all, uncertainty. When he knew the war had started He tried to contact his family but, by then, the Government had already cut off the internet after Saturday’s attack.
Her cousins in Iran spoke to her sadly in their usual conversations before Saturday’s attack. They told him that they saw no way out, “no path to freedom,” he recalls in conversation with this newspaper. This unease only increased with the repression of recent protests, the more than 40,000 deaths, including minors, and the more than 20,000 young people who continue to be detained at risk of torture.
Rezaie, who has been in Madrid for 20 years, criticizes the lack of effective mechanisms when, in their opinion, serious violations of rights occur. “When a government violates the rights of its citizens, it loses its legitimacy and the international community should have the ability to prevent it,” he maintains, and regrets that human rights are subordinated to political interests. “It worries me to see the people of my country suffering,” he adds.
“We carry 47 years of suffering. I hope better days come. my hope is May my country achieve freedom and security”he emphasizes.
“A bittersweet holiday”
In the Costa del SolArash has long participated in mobilizations linked to the Women, Life, Freedom movement, which emerged after the death of Mahsa Aminí22 years old, at the hands of the moral police, for not wearing the veil covering all her hair. He explains that the Iranian community in Fuengirola, Marbella and Malaga It maintains weekly rallies, and this weekend the impact of the attack increased activity and attendance. The celebration lasted until two in the morning and was repeated on Sunday.
Arash admits that the celebration was marked by grief. “It was a bittersweet party, people laughed, and suddenly, they cried.”account. And while they were singing, they were accompanied by banners with photos of young people who died in the protests, whom they called “flowers”, and they dedicated the songs that were being played to them.
It also evokes stories that the diaspora has come to know in recent years: wounded people taken from hospitals, families forced to pay for ammunition to recover the bodies, and health workers threatened or detained for treating protesters. “47 years of a regime that has done nothing but take this country to the Middle Ages”he maintains. “There are no words to describe that suffering.”
Willing to pay the price
For Arash, it is not taboo to talk about what Trump can expect from his entry into Iran. “We clearly understand that Neither the US nor anyone else helps us simply to overthrow the regime. We understand that there are interests behind it. But we are willing to pay the price. What we want is to get rid of these murderers,” he exclaims. And he concludes: “It doesn’t matter what price we have to pay: everyone is willing.”
Arash points out that, among the diaspora, the expectation of a political transition also circulates. Mentions the proposal of the crown prince, in exile in the US, Reza Pahlavi, to lead a transitional period and call free elections so that the population decides between a republic or a parliamentary monarchy“like here [España] or in Sweden”, and prevent the country from “falling into the same totalitarian trap” again.
Subscribe to continue reading
