Tensions in Iran are increasing amid rising protests over women's rights and freedom.

The conflict overseas is resonating with people in the Capital Region, including those at Siena College, where a conversation was held Wednesday about how the news is affecting people here and in Iran.

“It’s been very difficult to just watch everything but also extremely inspiring,” said Elly Konjkav, a Washington, D.C.-based human rights activist who was born in Iran.

An Iranian, Konjkav has several family members on the ground there now engaged in the movement.

“We speak to them almost every night, every day, checking up on them, making sure they’re all good, that they’re back home safe and that no one has been caught,” Konjkav said.

Konjkav studies computer science in Washington, D.C. On Wednesday, she participated in a discussion with Siena College students. Sharing her story is not something she takes lightly.

“Like they say, an ocean is made of drops, right?" she said. "And even if my voice is just one drop, it's enough for me to send a ripple into the ocean and send a ripple into what is happening.”

It’s a message students resonated with.

“This is an issue that is close to home for me,” said Amyra Khair, who is studying political science at the college and has family in Iran and other places in the area.

She said it was reassuring to hear conversations and support at home, in the U.S.

“A lot of my family overseas think it’s a lost cause, sadly," she said. "They think that things aren’t going to change, and that’s sad for me to hear. But I think with how things are going, there is room for change.”

Khair said she was looking forward to furthering the conversation on campus, which represented a mission accomplished for Konjkav.

“Every woman at one point has understood and felt oppression and because of that, they have also decided to become a voice of the Iranian woman," Konjkav said.