'The quality of life for people is in danger': Local man is concerned for relatives living in Iran

Iranians in Sask. respond to unrest Watch: Iranians in Saskatchewan are concerned with the ongoing situation between Iran and the U.S. Cally Stephanow explains.

REGINA — A local man is feeling the stress of the ongoing tension between the United States, and his home country of Iran.

“People in Iran, they have opposite views on politics, they have different religion, they have different views and they argue about all that,” the man, who requested to remain anonymous, told CTV News. “But when this happened, everyone was united together.”

The local resident said he is concerned for his relatives still living in Iran, following the assassination of who he calls a national hero, and second most powerful man in the country, Qasem Soleimani, on Jan. 3.

“The economy is very fragile and the quality of life for people is in danger,” he noted.

Assistant Professor of Politics and International studies, Dr. Brian McQuinn, said the assassination of Qasem Soleimani was a major step by the U.S. and Iran’s response with the two missiles hitting an Iraqi base housing American solders was well calculated.

McQuinn said what’s going on between Iran and the U.S. is one of the most dangerous moments in the Middle East that we’ve seen in more than 30 years.

He said Iran attacked the Iraqi base with its own military instead of getting a local militias to commit the attack, something the country hasn’t done since the end of the Iran Iraq war.

“The attack happened at the exact same moment that the airstrike that killed Soleimani took place at 1:20 in the morning,” McQuinn said.

“They also attacked the air base that Trump visited to basically demonstrate that we can reach to this base. At the same time, it takes about five to seven minutes for these missiles to reach. In that time period basically everyone was able to stay safe, because it’s quite remarkable that no one was killed. In some ways they’ve taken a very proactive action but at the same time it is in many ways seen as a de-escalation because they didn’t kill anyone and we know from their capacities they could have it they organized it differently.”

McQuinn said in the short term he expects things between the U.S. and Iran to be quiet.

He also said in the weeks and months ahead, he wouldn’t be surprised if tensions intensify between the two countries.