A sense of betrayal, turmoil, and doubt prevails among Iranians after US President Donald Trump backed down on his repeated promises to intervene on their behalf.
The “Washington Post” quoted a group of Iranians as saying that Trump’s promises increased their determination to resist the Iranian government and demand the overthrow of the regime, but their hopes faded and they felt frustrated, deeply shocked, and very sad following the American reversal.
After the outbreak of protests in Iran in late December due to economic conditions, Trump wrote on his “Truth Social” platform that he would save the protesters if Iran killed them, threatening a strong strike. In another post, he told Iranians that help was coming and urged them to take control of state institutions.
But last week, while Iranians were waiting for the US promises to be activated and Tehran to be bombed, nothing happened, and Trump backed down on his plans to launch a military attack on Iran.
“Hades,” 36, a resident of Tehran, said that Iranians went out to protest despite the widespread killings carried out by the security forces, and they expected Trump to order a military strike on Iranian targets. She added: “Our eyes were fixed on the sky, as if something would happen… he will strike now.” She continued: “We went out to protest while we were afraid, but we had hope that Trump would strike now, and he would eliminate these people.”
After Trump refrained from launching an attack, she concluded that he did not take the interests of Iranians into account, saying: “Trump does not think about humanity… he could have easily done something for us.”
The newspaper reported that several factors, including the Iranian authorities’ cancellation of the execution plans of about 800 protesters, pressure from regional allies, limited US military resources in the region, and concerns about unforeseen repercussions, prompted Trump to cancel the potential military operation.
In the same context, the son of the former Shah of Iran, “Reza Pahlavi,” residing in the United States, called on Trump to intervene to prevent the security forces from killing the protesters. “Yazdan Shohadaee,” the spokesman for an opposition coalition, also considered Trump’s action “irresponsible” when he promised to act and then did not.
Some Iranians still hope that Trump will decide to intervene later, noting that his comments may be part of a political deception, pointing out that Israel carried out a military attack last June, at a time when US officials were talking about a new round of negotiations with Iran regarding its nuclear program.
Two officials said that Trump and his advisors are keeping their options open and may be buying time while the US aircraft carrier “USS Abraham Lincoln” heads from Asia to the Middle East.
For her part, White House spokeswoman “Caroline Leavitt” affirmed in a statement that “no one knows what President Trump will do about Iran except the President himself.”
In contrast, foreign officials saw that Trump owes support to the Iranian protesters because he promised them that, while others considered that the 47th President of the United States will not abandon the protesters and will help them achieve their goals.
