Iranians living in Minnesota expressing mixed emotions about U.S. war with Iran

Iranians living in Minnesota expressing mixed emotions on this third day of the U.S. war with Iran.

President Donald Trump spoke at a White House event Monday, and says the Iran operation is likely to last four to five weeks, but says he's prepared 'to go far longer than that.

Beheshteh Zargaran grew up in Iran, and now works for the University of Minnesota in the Plant Pathology Department.

"Almost all of my family are in Iran, and it is hard because the first thing that the Iranian regime does is disconnecting the internet," says Zargaran.

She says they are grateful to the United States for stepping in as the regime has been brutal on the citizens.

"We are happy that (Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei is dead. He is responsible for killing millions of people," said Zargaran. "He just killed. This regime killed who knows how many. Some people say 32,000, 36,000,I don't know. Some people say 90,000."

Iranian media is also saying that Mansoureh Khojasteh, wife of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, died on Monday. She had been in a coma since Saturday’s strikes on her husband’s office.

Separately, an Iranian human rights activists’ group cited an education ministry spokesperson as saying that 171 students were killed across Iran in the past 48 hours.

Zargaran still stands by the combined actions by the U.S. and Israel, saying the brutal Iranian regime needs to be removed.

"We all want the Islamic regime to be gone. We ask for other countries to help because people in Iran are hostage right now," Zargaran adds.

Jewish community leaders also say they are on high alert over concerns of potential retaliatory acts in major cities across the U.S.