Iranian exile hopes for end of 'terrible' regime

A woman who has been unable to return to Iran since 2015 has said she is both "imobilised by fear" and hopeful of change as a result of the US and Israeli air strikes on Iran.

Ishbel Holmes, who lives in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, still has family living in Iran and believes she will be executed if she visits them, after speaking out against the Supreme Leader.

She said her country needed to be "free of this terrible regime" and hoped it could be done with as few casualties as possible.

"I don't support international involvement in things with force, but in this I am because it's saving lives," she said.

The US and Israel struck Iran on Saturday, killing the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and both sides have traded attacks since then.

Holmes said: "I'm not a fan of Trump, I'm not a fan of the leaders that are involved in the help to Iran, but I fully support this."

She has been fearful of returning to the country after being involved in a campaign for women's rights, in which she criticised the Iranian leader.

She said it was "death to speak out" and expected at least 20 years in prison without a proper trial if she went back.

Since her last visit in 2015, she has been in regular contact with her family via the internet and said she was "grateful" to speak to her father just before contact was lost on Saturday.

She said: "It was very garbled, but I could make out that he's safe and my family are safe and my family that are in Tehran, they're going to try and get out to get back up north."

Holmes said watching the air strikes from a distance was a "weird situation to be in".

"We need this, we need the help, but at the same time we know there is going to be casualties and we're just so thankful that the strikes are mostly on target," she said.

Although the authorities in Iran have warned residents not to go out onto the streets to protest, she expected more large-scale protests in Iran.

She said there was "a lot of excitement and disbelief that perhaps this is it" and the people of Iran wanted to "have their country back".

She expected thousands to be killed on the streets if further protests took place, but said: "The Iranian people are going to go again in the near future because they have to do it."

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