An anonymous Iranian woman courageously stepped forward on the international stage to describe what is really happening on the ground in Tehran as President Donald Trump’s two-week ceasefire with Iran got off to a cautious start on Tuesday.
In an essay published in The Australianthe anonymous author describes nightly explosions, sweeping checkpoints and communications disruptions as part of Iranian daily life since the start of operations launched by the United States and Israel in February.
“In effect, ordinary people have been turned into human shields in a vast militarized landscape,” she wrote. “A pervasive sense of anger, paranoia and exhaustion has taken over.”
Flagrant public executions of thousands of protesters by the Iranian regime in January led residents to cheer the first days of attacks by US and Israeli forces when Operation Epic Fury began on February 28.
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Iranians gather in Tehran’s Enqelab Square on Wednesday following the announcement of a ceasefire. The US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday, just an hour before President Donald Trump’s deadline to destroy the rival country was due to expire. Tehran temporarily reopened the crucial Strait of Hormuz. (AFP via Getty Images)
“They say they hit the leader’s home,” the author’s daughter said. “All the kids were screaming and cheering. … Even our teacher quietly snapped their fingers and danced.”
The author described everyday Iranians celebrating the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei that same Saturday, filling the streets of Tehran with cheers of “death to the dictator.”
“Perhaps for the first time we allowed ourselves to believe that our long-cherished dream was beginning to take shape,” the anonymous author recalled.
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A woman sits on the rubble in front of a building damaged during airstrikes on March 12 in Tehran, Iran. (Vahid Salemi/AP)
But soon the reality of daily life under a threatened, crumbling regime and persistent attacks took its toll. One of the harshest realities people in Iran are facing on the ground is the internet outage, which effectively shuts down communications with the outside world and creates great uncertainty at the hands of the regime.
“So far, none of our loved ones have suffered any physical harm, but no night is calm,” the Iranian woman wrote. “What weighs most heavily is not just the war itself, but the possibility that it will ultimately leave behind a regime that is even more authoritarian, repressive and violent.”
According to the author, a stubborn group of regime supporters still persists, blasting propaganda through loudspeakers through the streets of Tehran every night, strengthening its authority against those who support the revolution.
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Rescuers search the rubble of a collapsed building after an airstrike on March 27 in Tehran, Iran. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
“The streets are now covered with checkpoints,” she wrote. “Under bridges and along main roads, freedom of movement is restricted. Long traffic lines develop. Young people are stopped and their phones inspected under the guise of routine checks.”
After Tuesday’s announcement of the ceasefire between U.S. forces and the Iranian regime, the author said, most of her country went to sleep that night in a “state of deep fear.”
“What weighs most heavily is not just the war itself, but the possibility that it will ultimately leave behind a regime that is even more authoritarian, repressive and violent,” the author notes.
She urged a ceasefire that does not mean “abandonment” but peace, thereby destabilizing the Iranian regime.
“A ceasefire that stabilizes the current order, without meeting the demands that Iranians have taken to the streets for years, risks being perceived not as peace, but as desolation,” the author wrote.
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Negotiations between Iran and the US will begin in Pakistan on Friday.
“We wait and continue to insist, in whatever way possible, that the light will eventually overcome this darkness,” she concluded.
The Australian notes that the author remains anonymous for ‘fear of retaliation’.
