In Chicago, demonstrators gathered at Federal Plaza to urge Congress to take further action. Despite a ceasefire being declared on Tuesday, those with Iranian ties emphasize that true peace remains elusive as long as the current regime retains power in Iran.
Both Iranians and Iranian Americans in Chicago express relief at the avoidance of a U.S. military strike on Tuesday night. However, they stress that their homeland continues to face the persistent threat posed by its government.
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“This regime is notorious for oppressing its own citizens. It has no regard for the welfare of its people and certainly doesn’t represent us,” stated Tirdad Kiamanesh, co-founder of Chicago4Iran.
Activists from Chicago4Iran organized a protest outside the Wrigley Building, aiming to draw attention to their concerns over the ongoing conflict and the rhetoric of President Donald Trump as negotiations between the U.S. and Iran unfold.
“There’s a palpable sense of desperation and anger among people regarding the conflict’s trajectory. Many feel trapped between the Iranian regime, Israel, and the United States,” Kiamanesh noted.
The Chicago4Iran group consists of individuals with Iranian heritage who have endured terror under the Iranian regime. They now find themselves in a precarious situation amid tensions involving the U.S. and Israel.
This comes as 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, ahead of Tuesday’s ceasefire agreement, Trump 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.”
“It started as a help is on the way, and we are here to help Iranian people, and now it turns out to be ‘we are going to wipe out all of your civilization,’” Kiamanesh said. “The line between the civilians and the Regime become more and more blurred in his judgment, and that’s scary.”
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. Tarokh says his mother in Iran is frightened.
“She prepared herself and also my brother and his family to die together if something happened to them,” Tarokh said.
In a separate protest at Federal Plaza held by activists and community organizations, more protesters took aim at Trump.
“Our president has shown he is not a leader; he is a tyrant,” said Baltazar Enriquez with the Little Village Community Council. “Calling on Congress and Senate to hold him accountable… We can’t go around the world terrorizing people.”
“He promised to stop all the war and then yet, he is starting the war in Iran,” said Iranian artist Teerdad Normandi.
Normandi has a desperate plea for U.S. political leaders in response to the president’s threat to strike civilian infrastructure in Iran.
“Please act and do your job and stop this tyranny. This is [a] war crime. This is genocide and this should be stopped,” Normandi said.
Chicago4Iran says the direction this war has taken has turned from hope for new leadership to continued concerns for Iranians under what they say is a brutal regime.
Kiamanesh fears a dark reality for his homeland. He is focused on the regime he and others desperately tried to fight against.
“We’re sure that if they leave us alone with them, they are going to take revenge from us, and also, now, we have a weaker society, weaker economy, less infrastructure,” Kiamanesh said.
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.
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