Last since Saturday the attacks by the USA and Israel on the dictatorial mullahs’ regime in Iran. At first glance, life on Sonnenallee continues unchanged. It is something like the heart artery of Muslim Berlin. Shisha shops and barbershops open between 9 and 10 a.m., vegetable stands, butcher shops and cafés with predominantly Arabic products are well attended on this spring morning.

Berlin Palestinians on the attack on Iran: “War always sucks”

Like a thin, grey-mottled gentleman in his late 60s wearing beige trousers and a sweater who is talking to an acquaintance in front of a café not far from Hermannplatz. “War always sucks,” he almost screams when the reporter asks him for a brief opinion.

He does condemn the massacre of the demonstrators. But he cannot see anything positive from the attacks by the USA and Israel. “I am a Palestinian and fled Lebanon 50 years ago. I have never seen my son, who lives there. And now Israel is attacking Lebanon again.”

The man does not mention that these attacks are carried out by the terrorist organization Hezbollah, which supports the mullahs’ regime in Tehran in the fight against Israel. “The problem that the Iranians have should be sorted out among themselves,” he says, and declares the conversation over.

Turkish Kurd ‘knows well how much Iranians hate the mullahs’

Söleyman is a Turkish Kurd and is sitting in front of a café down the street, enjoying a glass of tea in the warm midday sun. “I’m a linguist. In 2018, I traveled extensively through the country with a research group and know well how much the Iranians hate the mullahs,” explains the 37-year-old, who works in the diplomatic service. “Anyone who is a Kurd understands this well, because we in Turkey also have to struggle with a regime that does not allow criticism of its policies.”

He can understand that the mullahs’ regime is now under attack, “because the people who are taking to the streets against the regime must be heard,” says the linguist. “But I fear that the military intervention will ultimately not change the situation,” Söleyman says.

He is concerned that the power vacuum that could arise in Iran following the death of religious leader Ayatollah Khamenei could plunge the country into civil war. And it was already evident in the Syrian civil war that US interventions did not help. US troops had fought IS and supported resistance groups against the Assad regime.

Syrian woman on Sonnenallee: “Hope that war will end dictatorship in Iran

However, a 40-year-old Syrian woman who is talking to the owner in a bed shop sees it completely differently. “Ten years ago, when I fled to Germany, we had a terrible dictatorship in my country. Although not all of the problems in Syria have been solved, the situation has improved thanks to the intervention of the USA and its allies, because the dictatorship no longer exists.”

The 40-year-old, who does not want to give her name, says that she and many other Arabs in Neukölln are very worried. “We are all very afraid and don’t know where this escalation will lead us,” says the woman who, as a “district mother” in the “Family Center,” primarily helps Syrian families.

She also wants “a life without war.” But she believes the intervention of the USA and Israel against Iran is right. “I hope that the war will end quickly, the dictatorship will be defeated and Iranians, especially the women who suffer particularly under the mullahs, will be free again.”

Kurd in kebab shop: “Iranians should have solved problems among themselves”

Like Söleyman, Mustafa Koc is also a Turkish Kurd and has lived in Germany for 30 years. “It’s bad what the Iranian regime does to people who think differently,” says the 44-year-old, who runs a kebab shop on Sonnenallee. “In Turkey, people who don’t support the regime also have difficulties. That’s what I really appreciate about Germany: Here everyone can openly express their opinion, and everyone can sue anyone and rely on the courts.”

Koc still believes the military attacks on the mullahs’ regime are wrong. “I think the Iranians should have solved the problem among themselves. In Syria, outside intervention didn’t help either.” When the reporter tells him about the Syrian “district mother” who had a different experience, he is taken aback. “If that’s the case, then maybe it could be a good thing.”

Moroccan engineer: “Situation in Iran not good for Muslims”

For the Moroccan engineer Adessamad, who has lived on Sonnenallee since 1987, the attack on Iran by the USA and Israel comes too late. “I think it would have been more effective if Trump had intervened as quickly as he had promised the Iranians immediately after the massacre with thousands of deaths became known,” says the 63-year-old.

The mullahs’ Iran represents a long dispute between Muslims and Jews, “the situation for us Muslims is not good,” says Adessamad. Therefore the regime must “disappear as quickly as possible”.

But the engineer from Morocco also fears that the attacks will ultimately not solve the problem. “I can only hope that US President Donald Trump knows what he’s doing.”