Some express fears of a power vacuum and potential violence against Iran’s Jews after the US-Israel strike, but say news of the supreme leader’s death is like a dream

Expat Iranians in Israel expressed overwhelming happiness over the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after he was killed in American-Israeli strikes on Saturday morning.

Yasmin Shalom Mottahedeh, an activist who left Iran in 1990, painted a picture of a nation celebrating a new future.

“I’ve been in touch with many friends inside Iran, and everyone is very happy,” she said. “No one sounds worried about the future, because things can’t get any worse than they were.”

The Islamic Republic regime has ruined the country’s culture and economy, and doesn’t represent the nation, Mottahedeh said. “This is a nation with civilization and culture, and the people have never accepted the regime,” she said.

Mottahedeh said everyone she knows in Iran was out celebrating the news on Saturday evening. “The only people who are unhappy are the ones who were supported by the regime, and whose livelihoods are now in danger.”

Some expressed worry, however, that Israel and the US might leave the country in chaos if they don’t ensure that the 47-year-old theocratic regime is replaced with a stable democratic government in the future.

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