Knoxville, Tenn. (TVC) — Meidi Karampour was born and raised in Iran. He is an art instructor at Roane State Community College, and he is a portraiture artist. 

“We always felt that this government has taken us as hostages, and they don’t belong in Iran,” Karampour said. 

Life in Iran is not easy. The Iranian regime has had control of Iran for 47 years; they took power after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. 

“If these strikes are going to destroy them, then we’re going to have a chance to fight for our freedom,” Karampour said. 

Since the war has started, Iranians in the United States can no longer talk to their families back home. Both Karampour and University of Tennessee Architecture Student Farrah Rahimian have not talked to their families since the war started several days ago. 

“I received messages from my cousins and my family that ‘we’re going to be okay, and we would rather die in this war than to live under this dictatorship,’” Karampour said. 

Farrah was personally exposed to cruelty by the Iranian government. 

“So, wearing hijab is a mandatory thing in Iran. When you don’t do that, they block your accounts, they block your car, they make the life really harder for you,” Farrah said. 

Farrah, like many others, has experienced grief imposed by the regime. 

“My close friend was killed by the cruel IRGC, which is really heartbreaking. I cannot really forget about him at all,” Farrah said. 

When Iranian’s avoid commands and disobey the regime, they are then punished, sometimes by death. 

“Killing people was the punishment of avoiding their commands. Since then, nothing is really good in Iran, and people are being tortured and punished and usually sentenced to death,” Farrah said. 

Many people in Iran push for political change through protests. 

“We took it on the streets, but they opened bullets in our faces and just more people died because of protesting against the regime,” Karampour said. 

Farrah has a message to all Iranians. She says, “You’re the strongest people in the world.”