Many Iranians are shocked by the ISIS attacks in Tehran

I woke up this morning to a stream of breaking news alerts.

"ISIS has claimed responsibility for the twin assaults in Tehran," said one from The New York Times.

ISIS? Tehran? Two assaults? Surely, there's been a mistake, I thought. It took me a couple of minutes to completely take in what has happened.

I was born in Iran, and I grew up there. A terrorist attack like this has never taken place there. At least not in the past three decades — not in my lifetime.

I scrambled to check in with my family and friends. In the time it took for them to answer, so many awful thoughts crossed my mind. What if they were caught up in one of the attacks? What if one of them has a gun pointed to their head right then? (Initially, there were rumors of a hostage situation).

Thankfully, they were fine. Shaken, but safe.

The attacks took the lives of 12 people. At least 42 others were wounded.

The news wasn't shocking just to me. Online, other Iranians began wondering how something like this could happen in the Islamic Republic. They also posted images of the Iranian flag and Tehran's iconic landmarks, such as the Azadi Square.

Others wondered whether President Donald Trump was going to comment on the attack. He did end up issuing a statement offering his prayers to the victims. Others wanted to know why Facebook's Safety Check wasn't activated. Facebook is blocked in Iran but many are able to get around it.

A friend of mine, Ali May, who was born in Iran and now lives in London, told me this has been an emotional week for him. First, the attack in London and now in Tehran — two cities he calls home. But instead of feeling defeated, he decided to donate blood.

"The terrorists took life, and I tried to give life," May told me from a busy street in London. "It is a political statement. This is me standing up against them and showing them the middle finger."

 

They took life and I chose to give life. This is giving blood as a political statement. This is an action that I hope will speak louder than words. This is a voluntary giving of a part of me that I hope will restore another fellow human. Thinking of London, of Kabul, of Tehran #life #blood #giveblood #nhs #LondonAttack #london #love #tehran #kabul #blooddonation #needle

A post shared by Ali May (@alimaytv) on Jun 7, 2017 at 8:24am PDT

Another Iranian who calls London home echoed my friend's sentiments.

I know that many of my friends and family in Iran will be looking over their shoulders after today's attack. Life will not be the same.

But that in no way means the attackers have won.