'It's escalating every minute': Iranian woman living in N.L. watches conflict with worry

Alex Kennedy · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 13, 2025 4:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 13

An Iranian pistillate surviving successful Newfoundland and Labrador says she's watching attacks betwixt Israel and Iran with interest for her household backmost home.

"I've been refreshing Twitter and the quality since, similar past night," Aysan, who has been successful the state for 5 years, said Friday evening. CBC News is lone referring to her by her archetypal sanction to support her household inactive successful Iran. 

"[I'm] evidently precise worried, due to the fact that it is escalating each minute.

Israel attacked Iran aboriginal Friday greeting with a barrage of airstrikes that killed top subject officials, atomic scientists and deed astir a 100 targets, including atomic and rocket sites, successful what appears to beryllium the astir important onslaught Iran has faced since the 1980s.

Aysan told CBC News it's been troubling to ticker the attacks from afar, saying she feels survivor's guilt. She and her household person taken comfortableness successful the information that residential areas haven't yet been targeted.

"I'm disquieted astir them, and I'm disquieted astir escalation," she said.

Iran's authorities quality bureau reported Friday day that Iran had fired hundreds of ballistic missiles toward Israel arsenic portion of a retaliation effort.

Leaders successful Canada and astir the world have condemned Israel's attack, calling for immediate de-escalation from some sides.

Military officials killed see precocious ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Canada named an violent enactment successful June 2024.

Despite the information Iranians are under, Aysan said she and others successful Newfoundland's Iranian assemblage person recovered a signifier of comfortableness successful knowing those who person harmed Iranians are gone.

"Those were the ones that, like, ordered sidesplitting a batch of radical during the protest," she said, citing 2020 protests when the Guard changeable down a Ukrainian airliner. It killed 176 people, including 55 Canadians.

"Most radical consciousness that, like, happiness underneath. But, of course, we are disquieted astir our families."

Lengths Israel volition spell look 'limitless', past prof says

Justin Fantauzzo, a past prof studying the modern Middle East astatine Memorial University, told CBC News Friday the struggle betwixt the 2 countries is good documented. There are a fewer cardinal issues that person incited this section of conflict.

They centre astir the improvement of Iran's atomic weapons program, which Fantauzzo said Israel views arsenic an existential crisis.

"I deliberation we've learned erstwhile again that the limits to which Israel volition spell to support what it views arsenic its nationalist information look to beryllium limitless," helium told CBC Radio's On The Go.

"I don't deliberation astir radical thought Israel was some possibly bold and reckless capable to escalate the struggle betwixt Iran and Israel, to escalate this dialog play astir Iranian atomic infrastructure and its enrichment of uranium, to this level."

Issues centre astir the improvement of Iran's atomic weapons program, Fantauzzo said, which Israel views arsenic an existential crisis.

Negotiations betwixt Iran and the United States to find a mediate crushed person failed, portion the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) accused Iran connected Thursday of breaching non-proliferation obligations by appearing to enrich uranium past the constituent of weapons-grade.

"Even going backmost to 2023, immoderate IAEA inspectors had recovered particles, radiation particles, successful definite atomic facilities successful Iran that were supra 80 per cent, astir 83 per cent enriched uranium," Fantauzzo said. "Hiroshima, successful 1945, that weaponry was 80 per cent enriched uranium. And immoderate IAEA inspectors person recovered grounds of enriched uranium that exceeds that."

Fantauzzo said questions besides stay implicit Israel's existent nonsubjective down the rocket attacks — beryllium it destroying atomic rocket sets oregon creating volatility to punctual a authorities change — and the relation the United States would play successful continued efforts to resume negotiations.

He said determination are 2 main items he'll beryllium watching for arsenic the struggle continues.

"The archetypal is, arsenic reports travel retired astir what Israel has struck, however overmuch harm did they really bash to Iran's atomic infrastructure.… Over the past mates of hours, Israel has struck much atomic facilities and much sites," Fantuazzo said.

"[Also], what is the absorption from not lone the Islamic authorities successful Teheran, the government, but the Iranian radical arsenic well. Is it different ballistic rocket strike, is it aggravated governmental opposition, is it authorities alteration from within? I mean, what Iran does volition evidently interaction Israel's adjacent measurement arsenic well."

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