CHICAGO (WLS) — Iranian Americans say relatives back in Iran live in fear every day as they hear bombs being dropped around them. While some of President Donald Trump’s supporters have called his latest threat nothing more than bluster, Iranian citizens are taking it seriously.
A memorial was held in Iran for the 175 people killed by an air strike at a girls school. The attack occurred on the first day of the Iran war. Several weeks later, Trump has escalated the situation to an alarming level, saying, “A whole civilization will die tonight. Never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
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The president’s threat came after U.S. strikes overnight on military targets on Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal.
“It’s scary and mind-blowing, and this is not the this is not the America I was always thinking of, so, because this rhetoric, this language, is exactly against the idea of the United States,” said Iranian Refugee Ali Tarokh.
It is rhetoric Tarokh was hoping never to hear again when he fled Iran 12 years ago after being imprisoned for political resistance. While Trump’s threat is to force Iran to make a deal to end the war, Tarokh says his mother in Iran is frightened.
While some of Trump’s supporters have called his latest threat nothing more than bluster, Iranian citizens are taking it seriously.
“She prepared herself and also my brother and his family to die together if something happened to them,” Tarokh said.
On Tuesday evening, Trump says he has agreed to suspend a planned bombing attack on Iran for two weeks if Iran agrees to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
In the post on his social media platform, less than two hours before a self-imposed deadline, Trump cited conversations with Pakistani officials, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who have been negotiating an off-ramp.
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In the post, Trump said, “subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE!”
Trump said the U.S. has received a 10-point proposal from Iran and “believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate. Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated.”
Responding to Trump’s ceasefire proposal, Iran declared victory Tuesday with Iran’s foreign minister saying the Iranian military will “cease their defensive operations” if the U.S. halts its attacks.
Regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said: “For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations.” It’s unclear if such a proposal will satisfy Trump’s demand for the “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE” reopening of the strait.
Following Trump’s announcement, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council posted a lengthy statement on Iranian state media declaring victory and laying out details of a 10-point plan for ending the war, including unverified claims about U.S. concessions. The Supreme National Security Council said two weeks of negotiations are set to begin later this week.
Meanwhile, Chicago protests are being held on Tuesday evening in response to Trump’s earlier threats. Some are calling on Congress to step up, and those with family or direct ties to Iran are now uncertain of what will happen to them and the country.
The group Chicago 4 Iran stood outside the Wrigley Building with signs saying, “Human rights are nonnegotiable.”
The organization is comprised of Iranians and Iranian Americans who say they have been terrorized under the regime and now have been put in a difficult position with the U.S. and Israel.
“People are desperate. They are like, very angry about where the direction of this conflict is going, meaning that people are stuck in the middle of the regime and Israel and United States,” said Tirdad Kiamanesh with Chicago 4 Iran.
And a short time before that protest, another coalition of activists and community organizations made their plea to the public and politicians to take action now.
“Calling on Congress and Senate to hold him accountable,” said Baltazar Enriquez with the Little Village Community Council. “We can’t go around the world terrorizing people.”
Tarokh and other Iranian Americans living in the Chicago area say not only have civilian lives been lost, but their relatives’ livelihoods have been ruined since the war started.
“The money has no value because people just don’t have anymore. Everything is closed. There’s nothing left there, and people are just fed up with this,” said Iranian American Organization of Illinois President Manoocher Shadnia.
Shadnia left Iran during the Iranian revolution 40 years ago. He and Tarokh came here for freedom and have built lives as Americans. Both say emotionally, they are caught in the middle.
“I am not full of hate against this country, no, because I have my human rights and I’m able to be speaking. I’m able to speak up against this war,” Tarokh said.
As the war and threats continue, Tarokh and Shadnia say Trump must stop treating the situation like a video game and realize his actions affect millions of human beings.
“I would like to have President Trump come to his senses. Please be responsible. You can’t just bomb everything back to the Stone Age,” Shadnia said.
Responding to the president’s threats on social media earlier Tuesday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker wrote, “This is not foreign policy, it’s a deranged mad man threatening to wipe out an entire country. It’s past time. The 25th Amendment must be invoked.”
There have been several calls by Democrats and some conservatives for cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment.
ABC News contributed to this report.
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