by Alex Winston
Iranians rejoiced when the attack on the Islamic regime began. The question was never, "Why did this war start?" but rather: "Why did it stop?"
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As the ceasefire between Israel and Iran continues to hold, inside Tehran, beyond the headlines and official narratives, ordinary Iranians are continuing the struggle over the future identity of their country. It is also a struggle for them to speak the truth.
In a message sent clandestinely to The Jerusalem Post over the weekend, a trusted source still operating inside the Iranian capital laid bare a version of events starkly at odds with the regime’s narrative of victory over Israel, and with the Western media’s framing of the 12-day war.
“The people of Iran were not upset when the attack on the regime began. On the contrary, they rejoiced as regime leaders were eliminated one by one. Their question was never, ‘Why did this war start?’ but rather: ‘Why did it stop? Why didn’t it continue? Why were we abandoned?’”
These words come from Iranians still living under the very shadow of the Islamic Republic regime, people who have spent decades under surveillance, silence and fear, rather than dissidents-in-exile speaking from the safety of the US, or armchair critics abroad. Now, as the regime faces unprecedented attacks, these voices have found cracks in the edifice and are attempting to rally the populace into action.
The fear now, the Post’s source warned, is that international powers will once again leave the Iranian people to suffer alone.
But perhaps the most powerful testimony received came in a video, which captures a young Iranian woman speaking defiantly and directly into the camera with clarity and rage.
“Israel didn’t drag women on the ground, strip them naked, and leave them to die,” the woman tells her audience. “Israel didn’t rape your daughter in the alley while she ate Mihan ice cream. Israel didn’t amputate your brother’s limbs so [Iran’s former Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Minister Ali] Shamkhani could trade Bitcoin in his penthouse. Israel didn’t force a mother to put her one-month-old baby in a freezer,” the irate woman said.
“Israel didn’t bomb the [indecipherable name] bridge, killing all those passengers and children. Israel didn’t massacre people in Bandar Abbas [the April 2025 port explosion]. And yet, no apology, not even a whisper, from these broken TV voices. Let’s say it again: [The regime] did this.”
The woman then contrasts the rhetoric of the regime with the realities experienced by ordinary Iranians, challenging the official narrative of who their enemy truly is.
“Your enemy is the one who made you chant ‘Death to Israel’ for 40 years under whips and guns. Your enemy is the one who shot protesters from rooftops, targeting hearts, heads, eyes, and children,” she said.
“Admit it: These monsters were so vile that even now, with bare hands, we can’t escape their shadow.”
Iran maintains illusion of regime popularity, control after war with Israel
The video, which has circulated among younger Iranian dissidents, is a stark contrast to the regime’s official message that hundreds of thousands of mourners turned out to celebrate those killed in the conflict, including some of Iran’s highest military officers and nuclear scientists.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian praised the Iranian people over the weekend for their unity during the funeral procession for the “martyrs of Israeli aggression,” as regime mouthpiece IRNA reported, adding that the president stated it is the “honor of his life to serve such a noble and freedom-seeking people.”
However, the unity Pezeshkian has witnessed goes against reports of hundreds being arrested throughout Iran post-conflict, and the words related to the Post by the source in Tehran and the young woman on the video.
“I’m not saying Israel loves us or sheds tears for our suffering,” she continued. “But by chance, its interests aligned with Iranians’, and it struck. And it struck hard. This ‘patient father’ of a regime finally got what it deserved. We must accept it, painful as it is. Freedom isn’t free.
“Yes, innocents died, and that too is the Islamic Republic’s fault. It’s harsh. It’s agonizing. But what choice do we have? I’ll say it once: This 46-year nightmare must end. And frankly, it couldn’t have ended faster or cleaner.”
She ends her brief video appearance with a powerful message of hostility to the regime and a call for the Iranian people to fight back.
“You say our country is ruined? I say it was ruined 46 years ago. Like it or not, this is happening. We can’t stop it. But we can do one thing: Seize this moment. Use it to end the Islamic Republic.”
“Let it burn. Because if even one of these b****es survives, they’ll redirect their rage from Israel to you. So unite. Fight. Now. That’s the truth.”
According to the Post’s source, “that voice is real. It is the voice of Iran’s people, not what you hear in the media. Not the BBC, not [London-based Persian news outlet] Manoto, not Iran International. None of them can convey that feeling.”
These are the demands and hopes of an oppressed people, rather than those seeking war with Israel. After nearly half a century of hate and indoctrination, half a century in which they have been denied peace, the Iranian people can still think for themselves and speak for themselves. And theirs is the real voice of Iran.
Alex Winston
Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-859380
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