Houston's Jewish and Iranian communities on edge amid Israel-Iran conflict

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Israel launched missiles against Iran in a retaliatory strike on Friday.

Experts say a large-scale war is unlikely, but weeks of attacks between the two countries have caused uneasiness across the world.

About 50,000 Jewish people and 70,000 Iranians live in the Houston area.

"It's not a good feeling when you are far away," Mike Azodi, who has relatives in Iran, said. "If revolution happens, I'm the first person to come back to Tehran. I miss Iran so much."

"It's very stressful. We have a lot of family in Israel. My wife is Israeli and she has hundreds of family members that live there from the north to the south, not to mention two of my kids who live there," Steven Plumb said.

One of Plumb's sons serves in the Israel Defense Forces, which brings him pride, but also anxiety.

"It's always innocent civilians who take it on the neck the most," Joe Barnes, a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute and a former diplomat, said. "I think the odds of escalation are lower today than they were four days ago because of the relatively modest Israeli response. But whenever I say these things, there's also an element of hope in it because this is a highly volatile situation."

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