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For days, Iranians have gone to bed hearing the sounds of explosions or reports that their country and the United States were trading fire. And then they have awakened to news that the attacks had concluded and negotiations for a peace deal were still ongoing.
On Thursday, the pendulum again swung wildly — within a few hours. First, President Trump threatened to hit Iran “VERY HARD” and take over Kharg Island, Iran’s oil export hub. Then he abruptly canceled attacks because, he said, progress had been made in peace negotiations. Between the president’s two statements, Tehran’s armed forces had threatened retaliation against energy infrastructure in the region if attacked.
For ordinary Iranians, the constant vacillation between fear and relief, anxiety and hope, has been emotionally taxing. In phone interviews and text messages, some said that they just wanted the war to end, one way or another.
“They go to war at night, they stop the war by morning, it’s all ridiculous,” said Vahid, a 37-year-old resident of Tehran who, like most ordinary Iranians interviewed, asked that his last name not be used for fear of retribution.
“Either fight or don’t fight,” he added. “We are fed up.”
Streams of people flowed out of Tehran, the capital, on Thursday in reaction to Mr. Trump’s threats. The three main roads leading north out of the city toward the coasts of the Caspian Sea were jammed with traffic, the deputy police chief told local news media.
Reza, a 48-year-old manager of a company, and his wife decided to take a weekend trip to the north and wait out the latest wave of tensions, he said in a phone interview. He said they worried the United States could strike civilian infrastructure, a concern fueled by a recent strike in the south, which destroyed a facility that a New York Times analysis found appeared to be for drinking water.
“Work is very slow, businesses are paralyzed because of fluctuating prices, it feels like our life is on hold right now,” said Reza.
In addition to concerns about their safety in the event of another all-out war, Iranians who were interviewed said they worried the economy would further collapse if the conflict remained in limbo. They say that if tit-for-tat strikes become the norm and the naval blockade against Iran’s ports continues, daily life will become even harder.
In his post calling off planned strikes, Mr. Trump said the blockade would “remain in full force and effect” until a deal was reached.
Mahasti, a 65-year-old resident of Tehran working in the health sector, said that was as bad as bombs being dropped, because the disruptions to trade and the curtailing of Iran’s oil revenues were slowly deteriorating many Iranians’ quality of life. “Our lives are just getting more and more difficult by the day,” she said. “If it’s not war, it’s sanctions or blockade, always something.”
Some took to social media to vent. Iman Vaghefi, a sociologist in Tehran, wrote on social media after the news of Wednesday night’s attacks that he had lived in a state of “anxiety and suspense” for the past six months. “Another night of terror and dread from the assault and explosion,” he said.
President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged the status quo was not tenable in a speech at a ceremony commemorating the late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “We must get out of this no war, no peace situation. War is definitely not to the benefit of the country,” he said, adding, however, that military aggression would not make Iran surrender.
Adding to Iranians’ confusion, Mr. Trump on Thursday afternoon claimed, once again, that a deal was close, saying it could be signed “maybe over the weekend, in Europe.” The spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said Tehran had not yet reached “a final conclusion about the agreement,” according to Iran’s state broadcaster.
