Carroll County woman watches Iran war from afar while brother is caught in conflict

WESTMINSTER, Md. (WBFF) — A Westminster woman who left Iran as a child says the escalating war there has become deeply personal, as her younger brother tries to survive near daily bombings while she watches from the United States.

Jill Jackson, who no longer lives in Iran but still has siblings there, said she wants to see a regime change in Iran. In her Westminster home, she keeps family photos and memorabilia, including an old Carroll County newspaper with an article about two Iranian children arriving in the U.S. and settling in Carroll County. Jackson and another little girl were featured in the article in March, 50 years ago.

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Jackson said she left Iran with her mother and father in the early 1970s, at a time when her father feared major upheaval was coming.

“They knew, they could just sense that something was about ready to change. This was probably in late ‘74,’” Jackson said.

She said a regime takeover and government oppression followed.

Now, as the war in Iran enters a second week with the U.S. and Israeli militaries hammering Iran — with Iranian forces and proxies striking back across the Middle East, Jackson said her younger brother is in Iran amid the bombing. She says been able to communicate with him using what she described as a “special VPN” he secured.

“He talks to me almost every day,” Jackson said.

Jackson said their most recent conversation was Tuesday, when she checked on his safety and asked about the conditions where he is living.

“So, I always check in with him to see how he’s doing, see if he’s safe. And today I said, had there been what’s going on today, and he says, there’s some bombings going on today, I said is it as bad as it has been or not? He said not as bad as it has been the past couple of days. So, you know, that was the last little bit of information I got from him. So hopefully, you now, they’ll get a little bit of break…because where they are living right now is being bombed, like almost daily,” she said.

Jackson provided photos of her brother, but shielded his face, saying identifying him could put him at risk. She said communicating with someone in America could be dangerous for him.

“So, right now, the situation is that the regime is, they’re just kind of out of control,” Jackson said. “It’s not safe for him to be identified and you know, if they knew that he was communicating with somebody in America, that it just wouldn’t be very safe for him.”

Still, Jackson said she feels compelled to speak publicly about what her brother and others are experiencing.

“I feel it’s kind of the lord’s plan. And I just feel like I need to be used for the betterment of however I can help communicate with what’s going on. Because you know you see the bombs dropping on TV and you see the disaster but you don’t see the people that are living through it and so if I could be the voice for them and you know what they’re feeling and what’s really going on that you’re not seeing on everyday media then then I am I feel blessed to do it,” Jackson said.

As the war continues, President Donald Trump has said he is not ruling out sending ground troops to Iran. Jackson said she believes ground troops will be necessary to help end the conflict, adding that while she worries for U.S. soldiers who could be sent, she also worries for the Iranian people.