{"id":129269,"date":"2026-05-24T20:18:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T20:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/129269\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T20:18:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T20:18:26","slug":"as-us-moves-to-end-war-iranians-tell-toi-they-fear-regime-clampdown-just-starting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/129269\/","title":{"rendered":"As US moves to end war, Iranians tell ToI they fear regime clampdown just starting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Things have been bad for Arash, a storekeeper in Bandar Abbas, since Israel and the US began bombing his country in late February.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can barely even cover the rent for my shop. My sales have dropped 70 percent compared to before the war,\u201d said the 20-something, who owns a clothing store in the Iranian port city. \u201cPeople only have money left for food, water, and electricity. Nobody can afford to buy clothes anymore\u2026 The country\u2019s economic situation has fallen into a mega-crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like other Iranians who spoke to The Times of Israel, Arash said the fighting had not only left them and most of their countrymen poorer, but also more isolated and no less oppressed by the regime they had hoped the conflict would bring down.<\/p>\n

With US President Donald Trump on the cusp<\/a> of agreeing to a deal with the rulers in Tehran that reports indicate will end the fighting while freeing up billions of dollars for the regime, five residents of Iran described widespread unemployment and economic hardship, tighter surveillance and targeting of dissidents, and further restricted internet access since the war\u2019s start.<\/p>\n

Despite this fallout, the respondents, who all said they participated in past anti-regime protests, called on Israel and the US to renew their campaign, in the hopes that doing so would defeat the regime for good.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe war did not reach its full conclusion,\u201d said Arash, who is referred to here by a pseudonym, like the others. \u201cMaking peace with these criminals means handing the future back to them. They will rebuild themselves again and massacre the people once more. After the Trump administration ends, America may never again [fight] Iran,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tA Shia Muslim cleric waves while riding with his bride in a military jeep in a mass wedding ceremony as part of the Iranian government\u2019s \u2018Janfada\u2019 (\u2018Sacrifice for Iran\u2019) campaign, at Imam Hossein Square in Tehran, Iran, on May 18, 2026. (AFP)<\/p>\n

The five Iranians answered questions from The Times of Israel sent via multiple anti-regime activists living in the United Kingdom and Canada. The respondents provided written and recorded accounts in Farsi on condition of anonymity, as communication with foreign media, especially Israeli, puts them at risk of severe punishment, including execution.<\/p>\n

Their accounts and identities could not be independently verified. Nonetheless, they potentially offer a rare glimpse into how some Iranian civilians have experienced the war and its aftermath.<\/p>\n

\u2018Unfinished\u2019 war<\/p>\n

All five respondents said they had initially welcomed the Israeli and US bombing campaign with hopes that it would ultimately end the regime\u2019s rule. With the ceasefire reached on April 8, that hope turned into fear that the Islamic Republic, wounded but intact, would remain in power indefinitely.<\/p>\n

Kaveh, a teacher in his 40s living in Isfahan, said, \u201cI was satisfied with the beginning of the war, but I am absolutely not satisfied with stopping it and leaving the matter unfinished\u2026 Most Iranians who oppose the Islamic regime supported the war, fully aware of the conditions and consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

The regime is not just [Ali] Khamenei \u2014 the rest of it is still in place.<\/p>\n

Rostam, a university student in Tehran, said he supported \u201cwar for the overthrow of the murderous Islamic Republic,\u201d and was \u201cdisappointed\u201d by the truce because \u201cthis government only understands the language of force.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [Iranian] people are dissatisfied with the government and\u2026want the formation of a national and democratic government that would be friendly toward America and Israel, and under which people could live with prosperity and progress. Right now, we are living under complete suffocation,\u201d Rostam said.<\/p>\n

Kian, an IT worker living in Karaj, claimed that \u201cthe majority of Iranians have moved beyond short-term thinking, meaning that in any conflict, their main demand is simply the removal of the regime from power.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he \u201chad expected the Islamic Republic to collapse [very] soon\u201d after the war began \u2014 a result he believed would have made the chaotic fallout worth it for many \u2014 and therefore, when \u201cthe ceasefire was announced, it felt like a mockery of people who had fled in fear for their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tA man walks past an anti-Israel mural in downtown Tehran, Iran, on May 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n

Anti-regime activists had called on the US, and often on Israel as well, to use military force to back popular protests that had erupted against the country\u2019s rulers in January, which Trump had threatened to do in response to a devastating crackdown. When the bombing did commence on February 28, it kicked off with a strike that killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei and many of his top officials.<\/p>\n

But while both Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the campaign was aimed at creating the conditions for the leadership to be toppled, neither fully backed regime change as an explicit goal of the fighting.<\/p>\n

All five respondents who spoke to The Times of Israel claimed the vast majority of Iranians oppose the regime and want it overthrown \u2014 a stance that is difficult to measure in a country where polling is restricted, dissent is criminalized, and internet access has been repeatedly curtailed.<\/p>\n

Nasrin, a 35-year-old from the northernmost part of Iran, said that while some 10% of Iranians still support the regime, ordinary Iranians are visibly infuriated with the current government. \u201cIf you just walk through the streets, you can clearly see how angry honorable, ordinary people are over these people remaining in power,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope Trump and Netanyahu do something for these people.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there has been visible rallying behind the regime in reaction to the war, Kaveh believed that \u201cthe war against the Islamic Republic has not increased Iranian support for the Islamic regime. The minority of 10-15% who support or work for the regime is still the same percentage \u2014 perhaps even somewhat smaller because of the severe economic crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tUS President Donald Trump speaks during a Fighting For American Workers event, May 22, 2026, in Suffern, New York. (AP Photo\/Ryan Murphy)<\/p>\n

Different names, same regime<\/p>\n

While Trump has i<\/a>nsisted that<\/a> eliminating Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials effectively amounted to regime change, respondents rejected that framing outright.<\/p>\n

\u201cI completely disagree with Trump\u2019s view [about effective regime change]. This regime is still standing,\u201d Kaveh said. \u201cThe regime is still being run by the same [type of] people. Only the names have changed! Its structure is exactly the same as before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rostam charged that \u201cTrump backed down and lost his nerve!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe regime is not just Khamenei \u2014 the rest of it is still in place. [It] still has the same determination and forces for killing the people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to analysts, Iran\u2019s hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a military group loyal to the country\u2019s ruling clerics, has become the main nexus of power in Tehran.<\/p>\n

Experts have assessed<\/a> that the IRGC, and not the newly elected Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, has dominated wartime government policy, in the absence of a decisive or authoritative leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat regime change?!\u201d Arash said. \u201cThe Revolutionary Guards own and rule the Islamic Republic \u2014 and the Guards are still standing right where they were!\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tAn Iranian woman holds a poster bearing the portraits of Iran\u2019s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei (L) and of his son, the country\u2019s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, during the funerals of Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commanders, army commanders, and others killed in the early days of the United States and Israeli strikes on Iran, at Enghelab Square in Tehran, Iran, on March 11, 2026. (ATTA KENARE \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

While the regime remained intact, some of the residents did report signs of weakness.<\/p>\n

Nasrin noted that while the IRGC appeared to be \u201crunning things,\u201d she perceived a vastly weakened regime compensating for its losses by mobilizing desperate recruits across cities. \u201cThe regime and the IRGC [have] become 80% weaker. Now they\u2019re gathering poor, desperate people who maybe didn\u2019t even have dinner to eat, and giving them masks and weapons so they can stand against the people. Overall, in each city, I think they may have 3,000 or 4,000 [recruits] \u2014 not more than that. Maybe in Tehran they have 10,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kian said that while the Islamic Republic \u201chas not changed,\u201d he did observe that the IRGC and the Basij paramilitary had been curbed by damage it suffered in the war, as well as internal disputes.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic security forces such as the police do not even have proper facilities or organization. The IRGC has brought military-grade weapons into the streets in an attempt to spread fear,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Basij forces have also become divided, and some members internally oppose the current policies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018No window to the outside world\u2019<\/p>\n

The war has not softened the regime\u2019s approach to dissent. If anything, the respondents said, it has given authorities new cover to intensify the countrywide government crackdown that began in response to widespread protests earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The conflict has led the Islamic Republic to further treat \u201csociety less as a population to be governed and more as a security threat to be contained,\u201d said Saeid Golkar, an Iran expert and associate professor at the University of Tennessee.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tA bridge struck by US airstrikes is seen in the town of Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the war began, repression has become harsher, but also more digital,\u201d he said, explaining that the regime \u201chas expanded internet shutdowns, selective access, AI-based monitoring, forced loyalty displays, and pressure on citizens to provide personal information to regain online access,\u201d while also making Iran \u201camong the world\u2019s leading execution states\u201d with increased political prosecutions.<\/p>\n

The respondents all said they had witnessed random arrests and regime intimidation, along with limits on internet access.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis regime will continue killing the people of Iran until it itself is killed,\u201d Arash said. \u201cRight now, it is more prepared than ever before to kill unarmed Iranians. It is also executing our imprisoned youth to terrorize the people into submission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of the war\u2026 [the regime] responds to even the smallest protest by abducting people and killing them.<\/p>\n

Nasrin, a 35-year-old from the northernmost part of Iran, who said many friends of hers were killed or injured in this year\u2019s widespread protests, said: \u201cAmerica and Israel need to finish these people off, because everything here has become worse and worse, and they continue running wild\u2026 Every day there are checkpoints. Every day there\u2019s fear.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Kaveh said that \u201cusing [the war] as a pretext, the wounded clerical regime responds to even the smallest protest by abducting people and killing them. [Regime forces] can kidnap anyone from their home or workplace under accusations of cooperating with hostile governments, opposition activity, or seeking regime overthrow \u2014 and once taken, the chances of surviving are very low.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tA screenshot of a video purporting to show an Iranian child recruit to the IRGC\u2019s Basij militia wearing a military uniform and carrying a rifle, seen in Shariati Square, Mashhad, Iran, March 30, 2026. (Telegram \/ used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)<\/p>\n

Kian said that since the ceasefire, \u201cthe regime intensified its crackdown on the people and protesters, carrying out continuous executions and torture.\u201d Repressive forces remain operational despite suffering military damage<\/a> and have even relocated to schools and hospitals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of military repression, killing, and stealing the resources of the Iranian people, [the regime] is still strong and stable\u2026 A single IRGC member with a Kalashnikov can suppress a street of 200 protesters! Because of the widespread bombing of bases and Basij [paramilitary force] centers, they are in a weak position geographically. But they have moved their command centers into schools and hospitals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Alongside physical repression, the war has brought near-total digital isolation. Iran imposed a nationwide internet blackout on January 8, 2026, at the height of the winter protests, and started a second near-total shutdown on February 28 when the US-Israeli strikes commenced. Access is now limited to those on a white list and with the means for an expensive regime-controlled device, or the few who can afford to get online via pricey VPN services.<\/p>\n

Kaveh said that VPNs are now \u201cextremely expensive,\u201d and he gets online only a few minutes a day. \u201cThe money from these VPNs also ends up in the pockets of the IRGC. Other than through satellite television, almost no window to the outside world remains open to us through the internet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tIranian police special forces stand guard during a funeral procession for Alireza Tangsiri, head of Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, and others killed in Israeli strikes in late March, in Tehran, Iran, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n

Rostam said internet access had become far more expensive, and claimed that what was available was used to promote regime disinformation campaigns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe internet has turned into an unsolvable crisis for us. Proxies\/VPNs are more expensive than before and do not work well either. Only the cyber forces and unrestricted SIM cards used by propagandists still function, and they are focused on discouraging people and spreading the false impression that the regime remains powerful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nasrin said that \u201cmany satellite channels are cut off\u201d and that \u201csome of the people selling VPNs are scammers we don\u2019t know, and they\u2019re constantly exploiting people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now get mobile phone bills every week. The telecommunications company constantly sends messages saying, \u2018Pay the bill or your service will be disconnected.\u2019 It\u2019s absurd,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Crushed\u2019 by inflation<\/p>\n

Economically, \u201cthe war has deepened an already severe crisis caused by sanctions, corruption, inflation, and mismanagement,\u201d Golkar said, noting that many basic items\u2019 prices have more than doubled in recent months due to inflation.<\/p>\n

Respondents noted how business closures, layoffs, currency decline, and internet restrictions have damaged their livelihoods.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tPeople leave their homes after collecting some of their belongings at a residential compound that was hit in a US-Israeli strike while they had been sheltering elsewhere, in Tehran, Iran, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n

Nasrin said she and many friends were unemployed due to the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe war has caused this anti-Iranian regime to put even more economic pressure on the people through unemployment and hardship. Theft has increased. Only their own mercenaries are doing well. Goods and food become more expensive every day. Some products are also in short supply,\u201d Rostam said.<\/p>\n

Kaveh, the teacher in Isfahan, described continued disruption of schooling, bank access, and social services: \u201cThe problems the government had already created because of the structural incompetence of the system became many times worse during the war. Mismanagement, systematic theft from the people, rising costs of energy, food, medicine, and the near-total collapse of social services have all intensified.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Islamic Republic had already effectively shut down or semi-shut down schools and universities before the war because of student protests. That shutdown continues now as well. At some bank branches, people are not given cash at all, or only up to a limited amount. Some bank branches practically do nothing anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nasrin added that routine had somewhat returned during the truce, but inflation still weighed heavily. The Iranian toman, introduced to mask hyperinflation of the rial, has dropped in value by some 16% against the dollar since January.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stores are open, the banks are open, schools have gone back to remote learning \u2014 but what\u2019s the point?\u201d she asked. \u201cThe banks offer no real assistance, and goods that used to cost 50 tomans now cost 140,000 tomans. Prices have multiplied several times over, and every day people are being crushed under the burden of inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tIllustrative: A woman walks past a pro-government mural in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n

Several respondents reported that the prices of store-bought products could easily rise between the morning and evening of a single day.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond the material hardship,\u201d Golkar added, \u201cthere is now a deep sense of despair and hopelessness [in Iran]. This is especially visible among young people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe war has strengthened two trends at once: more coercion from above and more suffering below,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe regime is using the war to justify repression, but the war is also making daily life much harder for the same society it wants to control. It has produced not only poverty and fear, but also a widespread feeling that the future has been stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Things have been bad for Arash, a storekeeper in Bandar Abbas, since Israel and the US began bombing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[30389,27587,327,2140,41,21614,38,34,16376,2289,69],"class_list":["post-129269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tehran","tag-2026-iran-protests","tag-2026-us-israel-war-with-iran","tag-ali-khamenei","tag-basij","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-ceasefires","tag-donald-trump","tag-iran","tag-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-irgc","tag-mojtaba-khamenei","tag-tehran"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116631405133700344","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}