Some Iranians who once hoped foreign intervention would help remove the country’s ruling establishment are now expressing anger toward both their government and the United States after weeks of war and airstrikes that have damaged infrastructure and killed civilians.
For years, many critics of the government in Iran had directed their anger at the country’s ruling authorities, particularly Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Frustration over arrests, disappearances, and violent crackdowns on protesters had led some opposition supporters to believe promises by US President Donald Trump that the United States would help them.
But after about two weeks of conflict involving airstrikes by the United States and Israel, some anti-government activists say their views are shifting as the attacks have hit civilian areas and infrastructure.
“They are also lying. Like the regime has been lying to us. You are all worse than each other,” said a student from the University of Tehran.
The student told The Guardian he had initially hoped foreign intervention would bring political change after Khamenei was killed early in the conflict. However, he said the government remains in power, with Khamenei’s son reportedly installed as his successor.
Amir said the turning point for him came after an Israeli strike on the Shahran oil depot in Tehran, which filled the capital’s sky with smoke and left oil residue covering homes, cars and trees after rainfall.
He questioned why civilian infrastructure was targeted if the aim was to weaken the government. “Where do you draw the line? What about us, the ordinary Iranians?” he said, adding that he feared the country could face instability similar to what happened in Iraq after the US invasion in 2003.
Others voiced similar concerns after cultural heritage sites were reportedly damaged during the attacks, including the historic Golestan Palace and the Chehel Sotoun Palace in Isfahan.
A student from Karaj, west of Tehran, said he had hoped strikes would target institutions such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the paramilitary Basij rather than infrastructure used by civilians.
Iran’s current political system dates back to the Iranian Revolution of 1979, which replaced the monarchy with a clerical government. Over the past two decades, the country has seen repeated waves of protest, including the Green Movement in 2009 and the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Some activists say they still hope the conflict could lead to political change. Others fear that if the war ends without reform, the same authorities who carried out recent crackdowns will remain in power.
A protester in Tehran said that after seeing civilian casualties from the strikes, many people now feel they are caught between multiple forces. According to the activist, some Iranians increasingly believe that instead of one government harming them, they are now facing violence from three.