People share their experiences during U.S.-Iran conflict as conflict enters sixth month

Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — Two people are sharing their stories after being evacuated from the Middle East during the Iran and U.S. conflict.

Tommy Mach, a Fairport resident and retired Marine, says he was in Abu Dhabi on a business trip when things suddenly became serious.

“I know that the president was saying this was going to happen; they were going to do this, but I guess nobody really kind of took it too seriously until it was kind of too late,” said Mach.

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Mach recounted the days leading up to the moment he was able to secure his flight back home, calling the ordeal a game of musical airports.

“There’s nothing more disheartening than hearing explosions above an airport while you’re in there waiting for an airplane,” continued Mach.

Six months later, Mach says it frustrates him that the war is still ongoing and it shouldn’t have begun in the first place.

“I hope that it ends quickly,” said Mach. “I hope that we can bring our troops back. They don’t necessarily need to be there, and you know, just hopefully this goes away as quickly as it started because it seems like it’s just ongoing.”

Local business owner Pouya Seifzadeh, who is Iranian, Canadian, and American, shared a similar perspective.

“This is not a regime that you can trust,” said Seifzadeh. “This is a regime that has been pursuing nuclear weapons from the 1990s, from the collapse of the Soviet Union.

He says after spending most of his life in Iran, it has become clear to him the country is not better off since the war began.

“Iran will never stop pursuing this regime,” said Seifzadeh. “Will never stop pursuing that, and it’s just something that it’s a big fear for not just all the rest of the world, but also to the Iranians inside.”

Seifzadeh says he regularly keeps in touch with his family who live in the country, saying they’ve recently moved to safety.

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