07/04/2026
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07/04/2026
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TEHRAN (AP), Apr 7: As tensions escalate ahead of a deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump over the Strait of Hormuz, Iranians are expressing a mix of anxiety, frustration, and defiance about the prospect of further conflict.
On the streets of Tehran, residents shared deeply personal reactions to the growing crisis, reflecting both fatigue from years of hardship and concern about what lies ahead.
“I had expected Trump would offer us something fancier than hell,” said Mahmoud Azimi, 35, as he carried groceries home. “We have experienced an inferno because of many bad things like sanctions, assassinations and wars. So, at the end, hell is being replaced by hell.”
Others voiced a more hardline stance. Reza Alaghemand, 24, who runs an ice cream stall, argued that Iran should continue fighting.
“If we stop the war, they soon wage another war,” he said. “Once and for all, we should teach them an unforgettable lesson not to attack us.”
For older generations, the current crisis evokes painful memories. Maryam Mehrabi, a 67-year-old retiree, described this as the third major conflict she has lived through, recalling the Iran-Iraq War.
“There was the 1980s war that Iraq waged against Iran. Then the June war that the U.S. and Israel launched and I lost a close friend,” she said. “I have no idea what is waiting for us ahead of these threats.”
Younger Iranians, speaking anonymously in a central Tehran café, expressed frustration with leaders on all sides.
“I hate this situation. Why are officials on both sides only threatening to go into a deeper war with more damages?” one woman said. “All night long, we hear the sound of strikes and bombings and then in the daytime, we are occasionally stopped by mushrooming checkpoints.”
Her partner added: “I feel we are stuck between the blades of a pair of scissors. It is more than a month that we have had no Internet and now we are going to face a power cut.”
The contrasting views highlight a society under strain, caught between external threats and internal pressures, as uncertainty grows over whether the standoff could escalate into a wider conflict.
