‘This is not our war' – Iranians in Britain pray for downfall of regime

Tortured daily by captors who threatened to rape his daughter, Mass still remembers the 39 brutal days he spent in an Iranian jail cell.
Christian convert 'Mass', who did not want to give The Telegraph his full name, was already living dangerously as a journalist under the Islamic Republic regime when he accused the Sept 11 attackers of starting 'the third world war'.
He was arrested and thrown in jail.
'It was 39 days but it was non-stop. Two or three people would come into my cell. They would punch me, they would torture me,' the 65-year-old said. He would go on to require four years of treatment for PTSD.
Mass is one of many living in exile – unable to return to his home country for fear of the risk it would pose to his life – who hope the scenes of missiles being traded between the Islamic Republic and Israel could lead to the fall of the 'Mullah' regime.
Speaking from his home in London, he said he was initially concerned about the strikes, but soon realised it could actually spell the beginning of the end of his exile in Britain.
He added: 'Thinking of my people in that situation, it was very sad news. But later on I came to see it as good news. I firmly believe that given the current pressure from Israel and the international community, the continuation of the regime is no longer possible.'
Now he fears those upholding Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 's regime will cause 'considerable damage' to their own people, by hunting down dissidents who criticise it on social media, before they are displaced.
There are thought to be more than 114,000 British-Iranians living in the UK today, with many fleeing since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Mass hasn't seen his home country in 16 years, since his own arrival at Gatwick Airport in 2009.
During his imprisonment, accused of being a spy and an apostate for Islam, he remembers being told his daughter would be raped if he did not 'help' his captors.
He only managed to escape after being given a period of house arrest to recover from a three-day-long coma caused by his month in the Iranian prison.
While outside, he was able to book a trip to Paris to see his sister, before going on to Dubai and finally to London.
'It is my dream to return to Iran,' he said. 'Every night I think 'one day I will go back to my country, go back to my childhood home, my family'.'
He believes the Iranian population are in their own kind of imprisonment, under their tyrannical rulers. 'The Mullah regime is just thinking about itself,' he says.
'They are just thinking about the Islamic ideology and they are not thinking about the people, country, land – not at all.'
Mass said there would be no appetite among Iranians to fight against an enemy state. 'I don't think my people will be happy to fight against Israel, because they hate the regime,' he said. 'They've hated it for 47 years.
'I am talking to my family and friends. Some live very close to where the bomb killed some of the [Iranian commanders]. They say this is just one way for the regime to fall.'
It is the same view held by highly ambitious Ellie Borhan, who came to the UK to study aged 25. In Iran she couldn't pursue her dreams, despite achieving top grades in mathematics, because she was a woman.
Now in her 40s and a software engineer, Ms Borhan has not been able to return to Iran for the last few years because she's spoken out against the regime.
'This is not our war,' she said. 'We don't like war. Iranian people are just looking for peace.
'The problem is the Islamic Republic is keeping the people hostage and every time we have uprising after uprising they just kill more people inside Iran.'
When Ms Borhan heard of Israel's strikes on Iran on Thursday night she suffered a sleepless night after failing to reach family and friends.
'I had two feelings. I can't express how difficult it was,' she said. 'In one way we are happy because we feel there is hope for a regime change now as there could be an opportunity for people inside Iran to uprise and finish it. But it can only be the Iranian people who will finish it.'
'Like someone breaking into your house'
But Ms Borhan described the Israeli strikes as 'like someone breaking into your house', adding: 'We never wanted to have a foreign country come and change a regime for us, that's something that should be done by the people.'
She was happy, however, to hear Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had been killed in 'decapitation strikes' alongside Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of the armed forces.
Ms Borhan added: 'Hearing those commanders had been killed, I can't express how happy I was. But at the same time I was worried for my loved ones and for the people in my country.
'We want to get back Iran, but not as a destroyed country.'
Becoming emotional, Ms Borhan said other activists still living in Iran had told her they were happy to die if it meant an end to the regime.
'People I spoke to inside Iran, who were not connected to Islamic Republic, they were extremely happy. It wasn't what I expected,' she said.
'People are dying inside Iran every day, they tell me, 'We can't live any more, we can't breathe any more',' Ms Borhan said through tears.
'Some are already thinking about ending their lives because they can't [pursue] their dreams,' she said. 'We all have these mixed emotions and we don't know how to deal with them.'

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Ghana Ghana goment say dem don begin di immediate evacuation of dia citizens from Iran. For one state, di goment say dem don close di Ghana embassy for Tehran wit immediate effect to guarantee di safety of embassy staff. "Di evacuation through land borders cover all Ghanaian diplomats, students, professionals, plus oda compatriots," dem tok for statement. Meanwhile, for Israel, Ghana Foreign Affairs tok say dem neva fit comot dia citizens now becos Israeli goment don close all di borders, and na only wit di express authorisation of Israeli authorities dem go fit evacuate dia pipo. Ghanaian authorities assure say dem dey pursue dose approval options. In di meantime, dem don advise dia citizens for Israel to remain for bob shelters, until road clear to bring dem out. Di foreign ministry add say Ghana embassy for Israel don identify 922 Ghanaians wey currently dey live for Israel. One Ghanaian for Israel Kwabena Amoateng (no be im real name) tok how dem dey keep safe for di kontri. E say, "Life for here dey slow - but essential services dey work; supermarket, banks, hospitals dey work but oda offices no dey work. "During di day, life na normal, di action dey happun at night. E fit start like 10 pm, 12 midnight some of di missiles fit drop like 8pm. Sake of dis, we no fit to sleep beta," e tok. Kwabena add say di Israeli ministry of defense dey issue warnings whenever dem launch missiles, dem go inform dem say dem get 15-20 mins to run to di nearest bomb shelter "Dis information dey automatic on top evri Israeli SIM card so we dey get dis alerts. If dem launch for Iran e dey take some time to reach Israel. But if dem launch for here, we dey get dis alert on top our phones, wey mean say we gatz find bomb shelter. "Di second time di alert go come on top di phone, mean say di missile don dey near and den di siren go blow." Dem bin open all di bomb shelters so if you hear di siren, you gatz rush to enta di nearest bomb shelter, e add. Uganda Uganda don reach out to di Middle Eastern kontris neighbours for help in evacuating dia citizens, privately-owned Chimp Reports report. Since di East African kontri no get any embassy for Israel and Iran, wey don close dia airspaces, dem dey coordinate evacuations through Egypt, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Jordan. Dem don ask di four kontris to grant dia citizens visas. Di foreign ministry don ask diplomatic missions for Iran and Israel to facilitate di process, wit 48 students wey already dey on dia way out of Tehran. Kenya Kenya don ask dia citizens to "exercise extreme caution, avoid non-essential movement, stay indoors wen possible and follow local authority instructions". For di advisory, di ministry of foreign affairs issue, dem ask dia citizens to contact dia missions for Tel Aviv and Tehran if dem require urgent assistance or dey for distress. South Africa South Africa earlier don ask dia citizens for Iran to register wit di embassy for dia safety. For statement, di ministry of affairs say dia support for Iran dey limited and e dey possible say South African goment no go fit help if dem dey caught up for difficult situation. "E dey important to note say South Africa support for di kontri dey limited and face-to-face consular assistance no go dey possible in di case of emergency and di South African Goment no go fit help you, if you get into difficulty, depending on your location." Dem advise citizens to assess dia own safety and security and act accordingly. We still dey update dis tori!