Iranians, shocked by the violent suppression of protests that left thousands dead, are now grappling with feelings of betrayal and uncertainty after the U.S. president repeatedly promised to intervene and then refused to do so.
Source: Bukvy
Some Iranians said in interviews that Trump’s words of support strengthened their resolve to resist the Iranian government after protests initially erupted over harsh economic conditions and later grew into broad demands to overthrow the entire ruling system.
Hadis, a 36-year-old resident of Tehran, said in an interview that Iranians took to the streets despite mass killings by security forces, expecting Trump to order military strikes on Iranian targets.
“Our eyes were fixed on the sky, as if something was about to happen. He is going to strike now. We went out [to protest] in fear, but we hoped that Trump would strike now and kill these guys,” Hadis said.
After Trump refrained from attacking, she concluded that he does not think about the interests of Iranians.
“Trump does not think about humanity… You could easily have done something for us.”
Like other interviewees, she spoke on condition that her full name not be used out of fear of retaliation by the Iranian government.
Anahita, a 45-year-old Iranian woman from Istanbul, described how she did not sleep through a recent night amid widespread rumors that the United States was about to strike Iran. Although internet shutdowns by the Iranian government made it difficult to communicate with people inside the country, other Iranians in Turkey, Armenia, and Dubai described a similar sense of anticipation.
“I kept thinking about how helpless we are, that we have to pray for another country to attack us for our salvation and freedom. But today what overwhelms me most is anger. I feel that Trump has backed down again and traded the lives of Iranian youth,” Anahita said.
A week after protests began in Iran, Trump promised on Truth Social that if Iran killed peaceful protesters, the United States would “come to their aid.” A few days later, he vowed that “if they start killing people like they did in the past, we will intervene. We will hit them very hard where it hurts.”
In another post, Trump promised that “help is already on the way,” urging Iranians to “seize” the regime’s institutions.
Human rights groups monitoring Iran believe that recent killings by the government far exceed those during previous rounds of protests. Amnesty International said that, according to information it obtained, there have been “mass unlawful killings committed on an unprecedented scale,” while the Human Rights Activists News Agency reports that as of January 18, more than 3,500 protesters had been killed.
Videos verified by The Washington Post show security forces firing directly into crowds of protesters in at least six cities across Iran.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the article.
Late last week, Trump said Iranian authorities had canceled plans to execute 800 protesters. WP reported that Trump received a message through a senior U.S. envoy that Iran had canceled the executions, and that this development, along with pressure from regional allies, constraints on U.S. military resources, and concerns about unpredictable consequences, led him to refrain from ordering strikes last week.
In response to Trump’s comments on executions, Tehran prosecutor Ali Salehi said Saturday in an interview with Iranian state television that “Trump always says a lot of nonsense” and that a large number of indictments had been issued.
“Our response is firm, deterrent, and swift,” Salehi said.
Exiled Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi, who has emerged as the most prominent opposition leader during this round of unrest, urged Trump to “intervene to help the people of Iran.”
In a statement provided by his office, Pahlavi said that “it is not for me to tell President Trump what to do. But I can say that the Iranian people would welcome targeted action against the security forces that are killing them. Ultimately, change will come from the Iranian people. They are the ones working on the ground. But right now they need targeted assistance to stop the killings.”
Yazdan Shohadaei, spokesperson for the Transitional Council of Iran, an opposition coalition, said it was irresponsible for Trump to promise action and then not intervene.
“The people of Iran thought that this time the world would be with us, and we saw that it was not,” he said.
Shohadaei, who lives in Germany, signed an open letter to Trump this month calling on him to “act against the machinery of repression and prevent the continued killing of people seeking dignity, justice, and freedom.”
But Nazenin Ansari, editor of a Persian-language newspaper in London and another signatory of the open letter, said she does not view Trump’s inaction as a betrayal and left open the possibility that it was a bluff.
“We have not yet reached the end of this Iran story,” she said.
Some Iranians hope Trump may still decide to intervene. They suggest that his comments could be disinformation, noting that Israel, later joined by the United States, carried out a military strike in June at a time when U.S. officials were talking about the start of a new round of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
Two officials told WP that Trump and his advisers are currently considering various options and may be buying time while the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln travels from Asia to the Middle East.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that “no one knows what President Trump will do regarding Iran except the president himself.”
Some foreign officials said Trump is obliged to support Iranian protesters.
“By encouraging the population and directly offering help — announcing that help is already on the way — the American president assumed responsibility that cannot later be denied. I very much welcomed the president’s words and commitments. But I also believe it must be clearly stated that he has now taken on the responsibility to keep his word and do what he promised,” said Norbert Röttgen, deputy member of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee.
A second European official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the U.S. president, said many Iranians “believed — and still believe — that he would not abandon them and would help bring about the overthrow. If he now completely changes course, Trump will have to come to terms with the fact that he will go down in history as someone who encouraged Iranian civilians to demonstrate and promised help, then abandoned them.”
While Trump’s remarks may have fueled the protests, Ali Fathollah-Nejad, director of the Center for Middle East and Global Order in Berlin, said it is difficult to say how they affected the regime or its violent response one way or another.
Inside the country, some Iranians say they now feel defeated. In some online accounts, Iranians described trauma and deep mourning.
One woman from Tehran, speaking in a voice message provided to WP through an intermediary, said last week that life in her usually vibrant city had drained away. According to her, only shops selling basic necessities remain open, and almost no one goes out in the evenings.
“People are extremely sad and exhausted. There is no life here,” she said.
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