Iranian refugee fears war will destroy her country

A refugee who fled Iran in 1989 has praised the killing of its supreme leader, but fears the impact of continued war on her "beloved country".

Nashmin Riazi, who now lives in Worcester, said: "The country will be destroyed, innocent people killed and Iran will become a very defenceless country in the future."

The 61-year-old hoped to return to visit her family and country but said it needed to be free of the regime.

"The regime is not a very easy regime, but we can't just overthrow them," she explained.

The US and Israel struck Iran on Saturday, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with Iran launching retaliatory attacks since then.

Riazi commended the continued bravery of Iranians protesting for freedom, despite the high number of deaths and causalities.

"The women that are scared of the regime but protest are very brave, we don't have economical, political or social freedom."

She has not managed to contact her family in Tehran herself, but a friend from Sweden found out they were safe.

When she fled the country she went to Germany as a refugee, in order to carry on her education.

"It was dangerous [for me], I was arrested two times, even though I didn't do something special but because my views and thoughts were different, they couldn't accept me to continue living," she said.

"Because I didn't have any freedom as a woman, I preferred to move to another country."

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