Shekoofeh Dadgostar He’s 46 years old,”“the age of revolution”and that means that he has known no other reality than that of the fallen dictator, Ali Jameneí. “I am the daughter of a revolution that replaced freedom with fear. For almost half a century, my family and my country have lived under the shadow of the dictator. I grew up in a religious home where even talking about politics seemed dangerous. My parents were terrified; “To have your own opinion was to risk your life.”
At 24 years old, in 2004, fled: “I left Iran because there I felt “trapped for being a woman”he relates. It is the same drive that made Iranian women organize under the slogan ‘woman, life, freedom’ years later, after decades of abuse. “I didn’t accept how women were treated at work and in the family, and I found it impossible to advance in my career. That’s why I decided to leave the country.”
But his exile has not been a straight line. His first destination was Brazil, but he could not regularize his situation there and ended up returning to Iran. Years later, she managed to emigrate to Spain and settle: she has lived here since 2010. After a difficult period in Barcelona, she wanted to temporarily return to Iran but was trapped longer than expected and was not able to return to Spain until 2024. Based in Madrid since her return, she is more than a mere witness to what her family and friends tell her on the other end of the phone.
Iranians exiled in Spain gather at Puerta del Sol in Madrid to celebrate the fall of the regime / Image provided
Sleeping dressed, waiting for the bombing
In recent months, that collective fear It became an unbearable wait. “For the last two months we have lived in unbearable suspense,” he says. “Trump and Netanyahu promised the Iranian people that if we stood up, they would support us.”
The alerts have been activated since, in June 2025, Israel launched a 12-day attack against the Revolutionary Guard. For many, it was the first time the regime seemed to falter. And, with that crack, came a thought that until then sounded impossible.
“In Iran, my friends told me that they slept dressedwaiting for the sound of the first big bomb. They did not fear attacks; “They were afraid they would never arrive,” he says. “We were afraid that The US returned to negotiations and leave us at the mercy of the regime again.”
The silence was broken in January 2026, when million Iranians They took to the streets responding to the call of the crown prince Reza Pahlavi (pretender to the throne, exiled in the US). They did not want political reforms, they demanded the end of the dictatorship. The response was a massacre. More than 44,000 people were killed in just two days; There were dead students, torture of prisoners and a new internet blackout to cover the tracks.
“They have kept their word”
The turning point came on a Saturday. Shekoofeh woke up and, seeing the first image of smoke over the Tehran skyline, shook her husband crying with joy: “Finally, the Americans and Israelis have mobilized their forces and kept his word”.
Before the regime cut off the internet again, he was able to talk to his mother. “His words will stay with me forever: ‘Don’t worry about me. The country will be free. You will be able to return soon and celebrate at home, in freedom, together.'”
From Madrid, she insists that she does not look at the events as a spectator. “Today, from my exile in Madridfor the first time fear has been replaced by a deep hope”says. “This was not just a military operation; in my opinion, it was a rescue.” He is confident that the intervention was calculated and that the US and Israel have spent years studying the leaders of the Revolutionary Guard to facilitate a quick transition.
The transition you imagine
“We are deeply grateful to Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu for their decisive action. After a life of exile and decades of mourning, the Iranian people are ready to take charge,” he says.
The plan, he maintains, is written: Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi’s transition brochure proposes a six-month to one-year schedule for moving to a secular democracy. In that roadmap, he demands the complete dissolution of the Revolutionary Guard and the oppressive legal system based on sharia, in addition to a referendum so that the people choose their future government. And she puts the focus on what for her is inalienable: “A country where women are not defined by a veil, but by the equal rights in life, in divorce, in marriage and in everything.
In Madrid, he says, the Iranian community has celebrated these days after the death of the dictator Khamenei with an emotion that is difficult to contain. There is joy in the streets, but also a lingering sadness for those who have died, are imprisoned or remain in exile. Exile also left marks on his family: his sister left in 2009 and, out of fear of reprisals, converted to Christianity; lives in Canada.
Now, her mother’s wish that the daughters can come home resonates with the two sisters. “He end of the dictatorship It is a joy that for a long time we thought might never come,” he summarizes. “The nightmare that began in 1979 has ended. Finally we return home,” he concludes.
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