Relief and joy at hopes of change

MY family woke to the sound of bombs on Saturday morning.

- MANI BASHARZAD

Mani with his family and the photo they sent of smoke from burning buildings struck during attacks on Tehran

They sent me a photo from our window in Tehran - buildings burning in the distance.

But what shocked me most was not the image. It was their voices. "They've hit the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps centres! They've hit the Defence Ministry!"

There was disbelief, but there was also something else. Relief. Even joy. And I understood it.

Because this is what millions of Iranians have long prayed for but could never say aloud.

As an Iranian, I say this plainly: We need the help of the free world to rid ourselves of the mullahs.