( CNN ) -- In the pre-dawn darkness Saturday , long after her parents and brother were asleep , Atefeh Yazdi lay in bed cradling the house phone and her cell phone in her hands . Atefeh Yazdi visits with her grandfather , Dr. Ebrahim Yazdi , during his trip to America last year . The only light was from a television tuned to the latest news from Iran , and her laptop displaying her Facebook page in hope of any updates on what was happening halfway around the world . `` I kind of felt I was more there when I could n't see the rest of the room , just the TV and the Facebook , '' the 28-year-old Iranian-American told CNN by telephone from her home in Mechanicsburg , Pennsylvania . Repeated calls to relatives in Tehran only got the `` annoying '' Farsi-language error message . She recounted the thoughts running through her brain all night : `` Are they going to really shoot people ? What 's going to happen ? Is this going to turn into massive killing and violence ? '' In Houston , Texas , Reza Soltani said the anxiety of waiting and wondering was like endless pacing at a hospital during a loved one 's operation . `` It feels like the operation started last week and it has n't ended , '' Soltani , 28 , told CNN by telephone . `` I 'm worried . I 'm hoping it will be good but I 'm worried it will get very ugly . '' The jumble of emotions -- fear , hope , anxiety , frustration -- were reality for millions of Iranian-Americans trying to find out if Iranian authorities would crush protests over last week 's election . President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the overwhelming victor in voting that opposition groups called rigged . No independent monitors were permitted for the election . A threatening statement Friday by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei increased fears of bloodshed . Iranian authorities have cut off traditional communications such as cell phone connections , and also banned foreign news outlets from covering the protests . Thousands of protesters took to the streets Saturday , even though the demonstrations were banned and police confronted them with clubs , tear gas and water cannons . The uncertainty and unrest strikes close to home for Yazdi , whose grandfather -- a longtime politician in Iran -- was arrested from his hospital bed this week . He 's been returned to the hospital , she said , but she does n't know if he 'll be arrested again or what will happen to other relatives . `` It 's very exhausting , '' Yazdi said . `` I have this feeling I want to be there . I want to book the next flight . I want to be with the people . I do n't care about the risks involved . '' Her parents , who left Iran in the 1970s before the Islamic Revolution , say such talk is foolish , she said . They are as worried as she is , but fear returning now would bring too much risk . `` There 's a generation gap , a culture gap , '' she explained . It runs deep , defining her life as an American-born citizen of both Iran and the United States , who refers to Iranians as `` my people . '' `` Being born and raised in America , where I was able to voice my opinion , do what I want , say what I wanted , I 'm culturally confused , '' Yazdi said . `` I 'm not completely American the right way , and I 'm not completely Iranian the right way . '' Soltani also mentioned the generation gap among Iranian-Americans , but he described it as more political . His parents ' generation lost everything in the revolution , and will only consider returning when the revolutionary regime has been toppled , he said . Older Iranian-Americans in the United States `` actually boycotted the election , saying if you vote you 're just legitimizing the government , '' Soltani said . `` We sacrificed everything for you guys , and now you 're going to the other team , '' is how Soltani characterized their attitude . `` They think the system needs to go completely , '' he said . `` All they care is for the system to collapse . They think if the system collapses , they 're going to be able to go back . '' No matter what happens , Soltani and Yazdi said , Iran is changed forever by this week 's events . `` I believe that anything that comes out of it will be positive , '' Soltani said . `` Even if they fail now , the people know if they get in the streets in millions , they 're not going to be able to stop them . ''
Pair describe fear and anxiety as they wait for news . Comment: Culture gap exists between older , younger Iranian-Americans , woman says .