Rendered before/after
They Were Promised Regime Change. Now Many Iranians Feel Betrayed.
In Tehran and beyond, residents worry they will be left with a devastated country and the same autocratic rulers as before the war began
"At the start of the war on Iran, Israel and the U.S. said they were paving the way for Iranians to rise up and topple their government. Many Iranians cheered on the offensive as a last resort to overthrow rulers who killed thousands of protesters in January.”
Now, they are grappling with the possibility that the war will end with them living under the same authoritarian rule and crushing international sanctions, but in devastated cities with an aggrieved government that has vowed to take an even harder line against dissent.
One Tehran-based civil-society activist and former political prisoner said Iranians were truly hopeful two weeks ago as the war began. Now, the person said, they feel betrayed. An English-language teacher living in Tehran who is opposed to the government but also the war was more blunt. “We were f—ed over,” the teacher said, saying they were turned into an excuse to launch a devastating war. “It’s like we have gone back a hundred years in time.”
The disappointment was triggered by a U-turn by Israeli and U.S. officials, who now are suggesting the time isn’t ripe for regime change."
They Were Promised Regime Change. Now Many Iranians Feel Betrayed.
In Tehran and beyond, residents worry they will be left with a devastated country and the same autocratic rulers as before the war began
"At the start of the war on Iran, Israel and the U.S. said they were paving the way for Iranians to rise up and topple their government. Many Iranians cheered on the offensive as a last resort to overthrow rulers who killed thousands of protesters in January.”
Now, they are grappling with the possibility that the war will end with them living under the same authoritarian rule and crushing international sanctions, but in devastated cities with an aggrieved government that has vowed to take an even harder line against dissent.
One Tehran-based civil-society activist and former political prisoner said Iranians were truly hopeful two weeks ago as the war began. Now, the person said, they feel betrayed. An English-language teacher living in Tehran who is opposed to the government but also the war was more blunt. “We were f—ed over,” the teacher said, saying they were turned into an excuse to launch a devastating war. “It’s like we have gone back a hundred years in time.”
The disappointment was triggered by a U-turn by Israeli and U.S. officials, who now are suggesting the time isn’t ripe for regime change."