SALT LAKE CITY — Iranians in Utah said Sunday they were celebrating and grateful for U.S. military action against Iran after nearly 47 years of the Islamic Republic regime.

They expressed hope for a future that might bring greater freedom to the people of that country.

“Thank you, Mr. Trump, for helping us,” said Kathy Vazirnejad as she sat inside Persian restaurant Zaferan Café. “The 21^st of March is our New Year. For our New Year’s, we do exchange presents and I think President Trump gave us the best gift as any for this year in attacking this government and killing all of those people.”

Vazirnejad moved from Iran to Utah in 1984, graduated from the University of Utah, and obtained U.S. citizenship.

She said the regime was oppressive and “vicious.”

“They’re just a devil,” she said. “I mean, it’s a government that kills its own people.”

Though she has continued to return to Iran to visit family, she said those visits had become increasingly tense and uncertain, even though most Iranians opposed their own government.

“I have a dual citizenship, Persian passport and an American passport,” Vazirnejad explained. “It’s hard. Each time I go there to the airport, I’m showing them my Persian passport and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, if they see I’m very active in my social media against the government?’”

Numerous other Iranians shared similar stories of their departure from their homeland, including Ramin Arani, who once served for two years in the Iranian army at the age of 18.

“It was right after the Iran and Iraq war and I was part of the team that was cleaning the war zone basically in terms of unexploded shells and land mines and all that,” Arani explained. “I put my life on the line for the sake of my country, although I was not treated as a first-hand citizen.”

Arani said when he left Iran, he migrated to the U.S. and graduated from the University of Utah with an engineering degree.

“Every day, I appreciate the opportunity that was provided to me,” Arani said.

He said for decades, Iranians didn’t believe the day would come when much of the Islamic Republic’s leadership would be taken out in military strikes.

“I believe we are watching history unfolding,” Arani said. “Potentially, the course of history is about to change.”

What that change looks like exactly remains largely uncertain, though there has been much discussion about potential regime change or the Iranian people taking matters into their own hands.

“Regime change is, you know, a be-careful-what-you-wish-for,” said Amos Guiora, a University of Utah law professor and Middle East analyst with family in Israel. “I say, ‘regime change,’ I get the phrase, but how it comes about, time will tell.”

Guiora questioned how long the U.S. intended to stay involved and what the endgame truly is.

“There’s an expression in Hebrew, if I may—zbang ve’ga’mar’no—which means ‘it ends just like that’—that’s not how these things end and obviously there are political calculations,” Guiora said.

He said he feared for the potential loss of life if boots-on-the-ground are ultimately required.

“(If) any of these things turn into a war of attrition, that would be horrible,” Guiora said.

Guiora, however, said he saw the obvious benefit of different leadership in Iran.

“You know, a shah-like Iran that would not be focused on the support of terrorist organizations and committing acts of terrorism—I think that would be a win-win for the world,” Guiora said.

Arani said if regime change does happen in Iran, he would like to see a constitutional monarchy take root like those in Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe.

“Sweden, Norway, these are all systems that are democratic, or I call them semi-democratic and they still have a monarch, which is a continuation of their culture,” Arani said.

Arani talked of the rich and proud long history of Iran, dating back thousands of years, and he believed there is much of that to share with the world today.

“The culture of Iran that is hidden underneath the layers of history I’m talking about, it’s all about light,” Arani said. “Iranian culture, the real one I’m talking about, is all about appreciating life, not ‘death to this,’ ‘death to that.’”

Vazirnejad believed as many as “85 percent” of Iranians supported the return of the shah’s family to Iran to lead, and she predicted a future where Iran is a partner with the U.S. and Israel.

She suspected that maybe one in five Iranians who left Iran because of the regime might consider returning permanently to the country under new leadership.

“It’s going to be very good,” she said. “Hopefully, we are celebrating the New Year with (the Islamic Republic) gone and hopefully by next year, the New Year’s 21^st of March, we all go back to Iran, at least to visit.”

George returned from a right ankle sprain that kept him out six straight games.

Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy didn’t need to see much from his young point guard in his return.

“Making shots, missing shots, it’s not anything that’s in question for me,” Hardy said about Keyonte George. “I just want to see him exert himself physically and competitively.”

In that case, mission accomplished.

After missing nine games in the last month with two different ankle sprains, George returned against the Pelicans on Saturday.

The Jazz lost 115-105.

George’s numbers were fine, scoring 17 points on 4-of-11 shooting in 23 minutes. But Hardy saw enough mobility from George to make him comfortable moving forward.

“I thought he made some athletic plays in small spaces. I was more concerned with his willingness to slam on the brakes,” Hardy said. “And I thought he had a couple possessions where he did, where he really pushed it athletically.

“He’s like any player, he’s frustrated. He feels like he should have made a few more shots,” he continued. “But that’s not what I was watching.”

George was on a restriction of 20-24 minutes and he wants to be cautious in the days ahead. Utah plays Denver on Monday before heading on the road.

“Feet are the most precious thing for any athlete. So I want to make sure I feel good, not feeling off balance or nothing like that,” George said. “Just want to be cautious with the ankle injuries and stuff like that.”

But for his return, it was good enough.

“I feel like my pop was there. I didn’t want to force anything,” he finished. “I just wanted to play the game. I feel like I did a decent job tonight.”

SALT LAKE CITY — “If you don’t think you’re a reader yet, it’s because you haven’t found the right book.”

Utah author Sara B. Larson believes there is a book out there for everyone that can make someone love reading. She and dozens of other authors gathered at StoryCon this weekend to teach and inspire young kids to love reading and writing.

“It’s hard to see the drop in literacy that has happened, but it’s also encouraging to see so many people banding together to try and combat it and help our youth,” Larson said.

StoryCon is a literature conference that brings together authors, educators, teens, tweens and everyone in between to focus on the power of literacy. Around 3,500 people flocked to the Salt Palace Convention Center for workshops on writing concepts, shopping for book merchandise, author signings, and even panels about Brandon Sanderson’s famed fantastical universe known as the Cosmere.

Sanderson, one of the most well-known fantasy authors to come out of Utah, said writing can feel isolating because it is such a solitary activity. He attended a conference similar to StoryCon in Nebraska when he was 18, and the opportunity to connect and meet with real authors was “so invigorating.”

“It was so powerful to just have a community. So I’ve always tried to do what I can to support communities, particularly for young people,” he said.

Aspiring writers don’t need to stress about writing the perfect book immediately, Sanderson advises. While some authors get lucky, like Christopher Paolini, who wrote “Eragon” at just 14 years old, most of the time writing is about exploring genres and just improving your skills over time, he said.

Sanderson himself didn’t love reading at first until between his eighth and ninth grade years.

“I went from being a C student to an A student because of books. This was partially because I found myself in the books; I had a reason to care, but your reading comprehension going up helps in all aspects of life,” he said. “Having a fluency with reading, reading for the love of it, which will just build those muscles in your brain, is extremely important.”

Brandon Mull, author of the “Fablehaven” series, said he also didn’t like reading as a kid until he read “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” which made a “light go on.” He now feels he owes C.S. Lewis the credit for how his life turned out.

“When I learned to read for fun as a kid, it changed the trajectory of my life,” Mull said. “I’m a practical example of how big a difference learning to love reading can make for someone.”

Mull focuses on children’s literature and said he tries to write stories that children and families can enjoy. Reading fiction helps children develop “a rich inner life,” learn how to be empathetic and develop their minds to be a place ideas can be explored.

The Utah author will soon be celebrating the 20th anniversary of his book “Fablehaven,” which will include a special illustrated edition of the beloved children’s book, a dramatized full-cast audiobook, and the premiere next year of a film based on the novel. He also will be releasing a new series this year called “Guardians” that he believes is some of his best work.

With so many things competing for kids’ attention every day, it’s crucial to teach them to read, Mull said.

“If we don’t get kids to learn how to read a book and turn it into a story in their head, they are missing an aspect of education that makes them good consumers of information and good consumers of stories,” he said.

Larson agreed with that sentiment, saying people’s brains are being “hijacked” and getting stuck in a loop of only having a 3-second attention span because of social media. Larson has written more than eight fantasy books, including the popular “Defy” trilogy.

“This phenomenon that is happening to our kids, they are losing the ability to focus, losing the ability to even think with any sort of deep analytical process. It’s so vital to get to these kids and help them realize you have got to put down the phone and pick up a book and train yourself to focus,” she said.

There is wealth, knowledge, joy, happiness, peace and calm to be found when you put social media away and instead dive into a book, she said. Reading helps children grow up to be successful adults who can pursue goals, constantly learn and successfully contribute to society.

StoryCon CEO Jennifer Jenkins said it has been overwhelming to see the success of the event. StoryCon was created by the nonprofit Operation Literacy last year and has become the biggest literacy-focused event in Utah.

Growing up, she felt there wasn’t a place for writers compared to athletes or dancers who always had camps and conventions, so she helped found Teen Author Boot Camp, which evolved into StoryCon.

“Kids need to know they are being taken seriously. They need to be validated and know they are being encouraged,” she said. “That’s the why behind all of this. We really want to put them before anything else. These kids are the heart of everything we do.”