ANDREW LIMBONG, HOST:
As we just heard, many Iranians are confused and experiencing mixed emotions right now. Some hope the U.S. strikes will bring an end to the hard-line regime. Others worry it'll start a broader war. An NPR translator talked with several people in Iran about the strike, and they also all asked that we not use their full names out of fear of retribution by the Iranian regime for speaking to foreign media. NPR's international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam brings us their stories.
JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE: It was around 2:30 in the morning when Zahra (ph) was woken from her sleep in the city of Qom, near Fordo, the uranium enrichment site buried deep inside a mountain.
ZAHRA: (Through interpreter) There was a series of explosions together with fighter jets that were tearing the sky apart.
NORTHAM: Zahra, a 44-year-old manager at a construction site, said she went on the internet and saw Trump announce the strikes on Fordo. Zahra said it all happened very fast.
ZAHRA: (Through interpreter) The jets came smoothly and easily and hit their targets and went away. We did not see or hear any air defense or any other kind of defense.
NORTHAM: The Trump administration says it inflicted serious damage on Fordo, as well as Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites. But Sahba (ph), a 42-year-old university professor, says there's some confusion in Iran about the extent of the damage.
SAHBA: (Through interpreter) Some Arab channels say the damage has been minor. The U.S. claims it destroyed Fordo completely. Iran, as usual, downplays it and says nothing was kept there.
NORTHAM: Sahar (ph), a 37-year-old unemployed accountant, was overjoyed about the U.S. strikes because it could mean the end to decades of Iran's hard-line regime.
SAHAR: (Through interpreter) Even if I die, I will be so happy about this. Because so many innocent people have been dying because of this regime, all these decades, I even thank the U.S. and Israel for these attacks.
NORTHAM: Zahra said she wished the Iranian regime wouldn't have played games when Trump offered to find a diplomatic solution and reach a nuclear deal with Iran. She says the U.S. strikes provoked bitter emotions for her.
ZAHRA: (Through interpreter) I think about the money that could have been spent giving us and our children a normal life and future. That crumpled in seconds because of the stubbornness of the leaders who did not negotiate in time.
NORTHAM: Nineteen-year-old Sarah (ph), a translator from Mashhad, in Northeast Iran, says the U.S. strikes have divided many people in the country.
SARAH: (Through interpreter) For a revolution and regime change - a lot of them are monarchists.
NORTHAM: Others hope the U.S. strikes mark an end to years of negotiations, sanctions and conflicts. Forty-one-year-old Farzaneh (ph) teaches literature at a Tehran university. She says many Iranians are exhausted and want the nuclear issue to be resolved.
FARZANEH: (Through interpreter) I think we have been in a war for many years. And this nuclear war had to have an endpoint. I think this might be the endpoint of this war.
NORTHAM: That depends in large part whether Iran chooses to retaliate, risking a broader war that could embroil the whole region. Jackie Northam, NPR News.
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