Iranian Citizen Response

Years of arrests, disappearances, and mass killings of protesters were somewhat common in Iran. Hatred for the oppressive regime had caused such a desperation, that many believed in Trump’s coming to the rescue. Then reality set in.

US and Israeli airstrikes have killed hundreds as they hit residential blocks, shops, fuel depots and even a school. Even if all strikes are not intentional, every war, and every attack, will have collateral damage and unintended consequences. Iranian citizens are now seeing it.

Abdul – not his real name – stated, “They are also lying! Like the regime has been lying to us. You are all worse than each other.” He is a student at University of Tehran. He had let himself hope for more from the US and Israel, which on the first day of the war had swiftly killed Iran’s most feared and powerful man, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The turning point for Abbul was the Israeli strikes on fuel depots in Tehran last week. A strike on the Shahran oil depot resulted in the sky being filled with black smoke. A rain shower later covered trees, homes, and cars with layers of toxic oil. “If the regime is what you want to hit, even if you think these depots were used by the regime, where do you draw the line? What about us, the ordinary Iranians? We rely on this civil infrastructure. Why take away our ability to govern in the future? Who can rebuild utter ruins?”

He fears Iran will turn into another Iraq, a country the US invaded in 2003, promising freedom, but delivering a civil war. Israeli leaders previously encouraged Palestinians in Gaza, and the Lebanese people, to rise up against their oppressors, only to later kill them in large numbers and enact measures akin to starvation. “My heart is so heavy. I don’t even have tears left. Only anger and more anger. At this regime, and them,” referring to the U.S. and Israel. He’s not the only one.

Why? Because it’s not just oil depots. The country’s heritage sites, such as Tehran’s Golestan Palace, dating back to the 14th century, and the 17th-century Chehel Sotoon Palace in Isfahan, have been hit.

Another student commented, “And how will we bring back people who are dying?… Is the goal to erase our culture and history?” Yet another student who had hopes, stated, “I want[ed] this regime gone. I asked for help from Trump. When did this plan [to hit military targets] change and why are they hitting our infrastructure?”

Many others in the anti-regime movement are hearing reports of newborn babies being killed by the US and Israeli strikes, and conclude simply that now three governments, rather than one, are killing Iranians. Some reports are likely Iranian government/media hyperbole, but collateral damage is always real.

If the U.S. and Israel think this is the way to peace, then both are completely ignorant. All that is happening with the attacks is the assurance that the next generation will come to hate America just as much as the last. Lest we forget, children emulate their parents. The cycle rarely ends.

Source used: Guardian