Iranian man living in Sherman Oaks hopes for regime change after being forced to flee in early 80s

SHERMAN OAKS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Responses to the war in Iran have been mixed. One Sherman Oaks man who left Iran years ago is giving his perspective and sharing how he feels about what's happening now.

Missiles pounding cities across Iran have left many Iranian-Americans who fled the country decades ago watching in anguish as their homeland is once again engulfed in violence.

For Dr. Payam Kade, a psychologist with Los Angeles County's Department of Children and Family Services, the images are especially painful. He was just 10 years old when members of his family were executed after the Shah of Iran was overthrown. He, his parents and two brothers escaped, eventually settling in the United States in the early 1980s.

"No one wants war. No one wants their own country to be bombed," Kade said. "Obviously, that doesn't even make sense, but I can tell you, I was so rejoiced. I was so happy."

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With Ayatollah Ali Khamenei now dead and U.S. and Israeli forces striking Iranian military targets, Kade says he is clinging to the hope that the turmoil could open the door to a democratic future.

"The only hope I have is the regime change happens -- for the sake of the world, and for the sake of the 90 million people that are living there," he said.

Still, he acknowledges that dismantling Iran's entrenched leadership will be far from simple. Iran's military is among the largest in the region, and its security forces have a long history of violently suppressing dissent.

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"Without some kind of a military force, these people will remain in power," he said. "They are going to kill at least 100,000 people of the protesters... They're going to start going after every single one of them, find them, kill them, so they can never rise again. That is the way they operate."

Even so, as he watches events unfold from his home in Sherman Oaks, Kade says he sees a glimmer of possibility -- a moment that reminds him of another historic turning point.

"My God, this looks like the Berlin Wall coming down," he said. "I'm hoping that the future of Iran becomes like Germany after the Berlin Wall fell... all united, one country, one nation, and they're free."

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