https://williamsrecord.com/471995/opinions/apologizing-for-outliving-my-executioners/
I have spent time in Iran. I have breathed the same air as the men who aimed Khamenei’s rifles. Members of my own family stood before his firing squads — some, like my grandfather, narrowly survived; others, including my uncles and cousins, did not. That is not a metaphor. That is history. My father’s family fled in 1979, as the regime was taking hold. My mother lived under it until 2000 — and her parents, my grandparents, still do.
My family did not leave over a “political disagreement.” They fled a graveyard that was still being dug. When you ask us to tone down our sense of relief that Khamenei’s reign is over, you are asking us to apologize for outliving our executioners.