Iranians Put Faith in Diplomacy. Israel and Trump Shattered Their Hopes
Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Every night for the last week, my family in Tehran wakes up to the Earth shaking as missiles strike and children scream. When the bombs go silent, they hear drones buzzing—a constant reminder they're being watched by the foreign army assaulting their city.
Last week, Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran. Over 600 people have died, the majority civilians, including entire families killed while asleep. It has bombed Iran's state TV live on air, killing at least one journalist. Israeli bombs have hit hospitals and ambulances, killing paramedics. Medical facilities are overflowing with the injured.
Smoke rises from the state media building targeted by Israel in the north of Tehran, Iran, on June 18, 2025, as the military confrontation between Iran and Israel escalates.
Smoke rises from the state media building targeted by Israel in the north of Tehran, Iran, on June 18, 2025, as the military confrontation between Iran and Israel escalates.
NIKAN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
Israel says it targets military bases and nuclear sites. But its bombs have struck homes across the country. President Donald Trump said Tehran should evacuate—a threat to the entire civilian population. Tehran is a vast city of 10 million people. In June, the flowers are in bloom and the rivers overflow with glacier water. Mountain hiking paths fill with people. Tehran is also a diverse city. I lived near a church, close to a synagogue and Zoroastrian temple. There are Sunni and Shiite Muslims, atheists and Baha'is, Afghan and Iraqi refugees.
Today everyone in Tehran is experiencing terror.
Israel gives evacuation orders, like in Gaza and Lebanon. But it's impossible for everyone to leave. Many orders go out at night, when Iranians are asleep. Israel has hit fuel depots, causing gasoline shortages. On Monday, Israel told residents of District 3 to leave—300,000 people live there, including my family. They have nowhere to go. Many of my friends have also stayed to take care of elderly relatives.
Those who can say goodbye to their homes, unsure if or when they'll return. They fear being bombed on the road, just like people killed in Gaza and Lebanon, or by Israeli bombs in Tehran. Just last week, my family was planning for summer holidays. My cousins wanted to rent a cabin near the beaches of the Caspian Sea. Instead, they are praying bombs don't kill them in their sleep.
It didn't have to be this way. Last week, Iran and the United States were in the middle of negotiations. They'd spent months working out a deal.
They already made a deal once before: the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement led to joyful celebrations in Tehran. I'll never forget the optimism among friends and family. Both the U.S. and Iran held up their end of the bargain. Until Trump came to power and quit the deal in 2018. Former President Joe Biden campaigned on returning to the deal. But when he became president, he broke his promise.
Instead, the U.S. continued crippling sanctions on Iran. They have been devastating for civilians. The currency has lost most of its value. Medicines have become hard to find, leading to preventable deaths.
Ironically, sanctions strengthened the regime by encouraging smuggling, concentrating wealth among oligarchs. Sanctions did succeed in one thing: crushing ordinary Iranians. They weakened civil society, small businesses, and academic and cultural associations.
For decades, Iranians have organized, protested, and rebelled for greater freedom. They have also advocated for better relations with the U.S. But America's betrayal of the deal—and its support for Israel's surprise attack—has undermined peace-loving Iranians. Every time Trump goes back on his word, it's a message Americans can't be trusted.
Iranians have many reasons not to trust America, like the 1953 CIA coup that overthrew their democratically-elected government and put the tyrannical Shah back in power. Or U.S. support for Saddam Hussein when he used chemical weapons against Iranians.
But Iranians kept fighting for diplomacy. They elected a president who promised to make it happen. When Trump said he wanted a deal, Iranians believed him. When he said he'd avoid a new Middle East war, they cheered.
Instead, Trump secretly sent Israel missiles. Israel says it attacked because Iran is building a nuclear bomb. But U.S. intelligence has repeatedly shown this is false.
Ironically, it is Israel that has an estimated 90 undeclared nuclear bombs, hidden from international inspectors. And it is Israel that commits what law experts argue is genocide in Palestine and war crimes in Lebanon.
The U.S. not only failed to stop Israel—it keeps sending billions in military aid.
Iranians feel betrayed by Americans—and terrified by the reckless warmongering of our allies. If Trump is concerned about Iran getting a nuclear bomb, then he should study history: diplomacy works.
War is not the answer. The JCPOA is proof that Iran will uphold its end of a deal. Now Americans must prove that we, too, believe in peace, not war.
The U.S. needs to end the flow of arms and sanction Israel, stop the war, and return to negotiations. If we don't want another generation around the world to grow up hating America, we must embrace peace. Let's show Iranians that Americans can be trusted.
Alex Shams is an anthropologist with a PhD from the University of Chicago whose work focuses on Middle East politics. He previously worked as a journalist based in the West Bank.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
How Trump has targeted Harvard's international students — and what the latest court ruling means
President Donald Trump and his administration have tried several tactics to block Harvard University's enrollment of international students, part of the White House's effort to secure policy changes at the private, Ivy League college. Targeting foreign students has become the administration's cornerstone effort to crack down on the nation's oldest and wealthiest college. The block on international enrollment, which accounts for a quarter of Harvard's students and much of its global allure , strikes at the core of Harvard's identity. Courts have stopped some of the government's actions, at least for now — but not all.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump says Harvard has acted ‘appropriately' and deal could soon be announced
President Donald Trump said Friday that Harvard has 'acted extremely appropriately' during negotiations that could soon result in a deal, signaling a possible major shift in his administration's efforts to target the university. 'Many people have been asking what is going on with Harvard University and their largescale improprieties that we have been addressing, looking for a solution. We have been working closely with Harvard, and it is very possible that a Deal will be announced over the next week or so,' Trump said in a late afternoon post to social media. 'They have acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations, and appear to be committed to doing what is right. If a Settlement is made on the basis that is currently being discussed, it will be 'mindbogglingly' HISTORIC, and very good for our Country,' he added. Talks between a very small circle of Harvard leadership and the White House are ongoing, and a source familiar with those discussions cautioned that a final agreement has not been reached. The source characterized the status of talks as more likely than unlikely to produce an agreement following what they described as good-faith negotiations. An agreement, the source indicated, could potentially resolve outstanding legal battles between the administration and the university. It remains unclear what or who prompted Trump's Friday afternoon social media post, but the news was met with surprise among sources in the Harvard and higher education communities who have been closely observing developments. The White House, the Department of Education and Harvard did not immediately respond to CNN's requests for comment. CNN has reported that the White House has remained open to negotiation with Harvard, with which it is embroiled in multiple lawsuits. A federal judge on Friday indefinitely blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard's ability to host international students and scholars while legal challenges continue. Harvard also sued the Trump administration in April over its decision to freeze federal funding and asked for an expedited final decision in the case. Oral arguments are scheduled for July 21. The Trump administration has launched multiple investigations into the school. Efforts to target Harvard began even before Trump returned to office, with his allies arguing they were cracking down on antisemitism on campus amid the Israel-Hamas war. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said last week that the administration believes Harvard has taken steps to combat antisemitism on campus and that some progress has been made. 'We are, I think, making progress in some of the discussion, where even though they have taken a hard line, they have, for instance, replaced their head of Middle East Studies,' McMahon said during a moderated conversation with Bloomberg in Washington, DC. Asked whether Harvard should expect additional actions from the administration, she said, 'At this particular time, we're continuing with the things we've already talked about.' This story has been updated with additional reporting.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil freed from immigration detention
JENA, La. (AP) — Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was released Friday from federal immigration detention, freed after three months by a judge's ruling after becoming a symbol of President Donald Trump 's clampdown on campus protests. The former Columbia University graduate student left a federal facility in Louisiana on Friday. He is expected to head to New York to reunite with his U.S. citizen wife and infant son, born while Khalil was detained. 'Justice prevailed, but it's very long overdue,' he said outside the facility in a remote part of Louisiana. 'This shouldn't have taken three months.' The Trump administration is seeking to deport him over his role in pro-Palestinian protests. Khalil was released after U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be 'highly, highly unusual' for the government to continue detaining a legal U.S. resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn't been accused of any violence. 'Petitioner is not a flight risk and the evidence presented is that he is not a danger to the community,' he said. 'Period, full stop.' Later in the hourlong hearing, which took place by phone, the judge said the government had 'clearly not met' the standards for detention. The government filed notice Friday evening that it's appealing Khalil's release. Khalil was detained on March 8 at his apartment building in Manhattan over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. He was the first person arrested under President Donald Trump 's crackdown on students who joined campus protests against Israel's devastating war in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Khalil must be expelled from the country because his continued presence could harm American foreign policy. The Trump administration has argued that noncitizens who participate in such demonstrations should be expelled from the country as it considers their views antisemitic. Protesters and civil rights groups say the administration is conflating antisemitism with criticism of Israel in order to silence dissent. The international affairs graduate student isn't accused of breaking any laws during the protests at Columbia. He served as a negotiator and spokesperson for student activists and wasn't among the demonstrators arrested, but his prominence in news coverage and willingness to speak publicly made him a target of critics. Khalil said Friday that no one should be detained for protesting Israel's war in Gaza. He said his time in the Jena, Louisiana, detention facility had shown him 'a different reality about this country that supposedly champions human rights and justice.' 'No human is illegal,' he said when a reporter asked what message he'd like to send the public. 'The message is: Justice will prevail, no mater what this administration may try to portray, portraying that immigrants are criminals.' Khalil had to surrender his passport and can't travel internationally, but he will get his green card back and be given official documents permitting limited travel within the country, including New York and Michigan to visit family, New Jersey and Louisiana for court appearances and Washington to lobby Congress. Farbiarz had ruled earlier that the government couldn't deport Khalil on those grounds, but gave it leeway to continue pursuing a potential deportation based on allegations that he lied on his green card application. Trump administration lawyers repeated that accusation at Friday's court hearing. It's an accusation Khalil disputes. In issuing his ruling Friday, the judge agreed with Khalil's lawyers that the protest leader was being prevented from exercising his free speech and due process rights despite no obvious reason for his continued detention. The judge noted that Khalil is now clearly a public figure. Khalil's lawyers had asked that he either be freed on bail or, at the very least, moved from Louisiana to New Jersey so he can be closer to his wife and newborn son, who are both U.S. citizens. Khalil's wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, said she can finally 'breathe a sigh of relief' after her husband's three months in detention. 'We know this ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family, and so many others,' she said in a statement provided by Khalil's lawyers. 'But today we are celebrating Mahmoud coming back to New York to be reunited with our little family.' The judge's decision comes after several other scholars targeted for their activism have been released from custody, including another former Palestinian student at Columbia, Mohsen Mahdawi; a Tufts University student, Rumeysa Ozturk; and a Georgetown University scholar, Badar Khan Suri. ___ Marcelo reported from New York. Jennifer Peltz contributed from New York.
