prepared for war<\/a>,\u201d Araghchi said. He added that previous U.S. administrations and the current one have tried war, sanctions and other measures against Tehran \u201cbut none of them worked.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cIf you talk with the Iranian people with the language of respect, we respond with the same language,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if they talk to us with the language of force, we will reciprocate in the same language.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. forces arrayed off Iran\u2019s shores \u2014 an armada comprising two carrier groups and dozens of warplanes \u2014 hint at a weeks-long campaign that could destroy much of Iran\u2019s military capabilities. <\/p>\n
But whether that would make Tehran more pliant, let alone spur regime change, is questionable.<\/p>\n
![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771628350_363_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Demonstrators hold the unofficial Iranian Lion and Sun flags and signs of protest at a rally in support of regime change in Iran at Los Angeles City Hall on Feb. 14. <\/p>\n
(Myung J. Chun\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think a war initiated by Trump will deliver a decisive blow capable of topping the current ruling establishment,\u201d said Nader Karimi, a pro-government journalist.<\/p>\n
Another fear is that if the government survives the onslaught, it would double down on its brutal smothering of dissent \u2014 just as it did in the wake of the 12-day war, when it detained hundreds and executed dozens on espionage charges.<\/p>\n
Some Iranians hope a limited strike would essentially repeat what happened in Venezuela, when U.S. troops nabbed Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro while the rest of the government \u2014 now more pro-U.S. \u2014 stays in place.<\/p>\n
Once strategic targets and the command structure are destroyed, said Feriadoun Majlesi, a former Iranian diplomat, \u201cremaining government officials will demand an end to the war and peaceful conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Others see in a confrontation with the U.S. an opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I\u2019m waiting and feeling anxious, but I try to reassure myself the future can be bright. I don\u2019t think the Islamic Republic will survive this time,\u201d said Ahmad, a 27-year-old barista who joined the January protests. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re ready to take to the streets again, once the time is right,\u201d said Ahmad, who says he always keep canned food, frozen meals and aid supplies at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish the war would last only a few weeks, and that only military targets and the Supreme Leader\u2019s office would be hit. But who am I to decide which targets should be attacked?\u201d he said. \u201cTrump and his team know\u2014 or maybe even they do not.<\/p>\n
Rahimi, a 74-year-old tailor, said he was looking forward to Trump toppling the government. The rest of his family agrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do we hope for war? Simply because we protesters are empty-handed, while the suppressors are fully armed, savagely cracking down and killing us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Estimates on the numbers of protesters killed at the hands of security forces in January vary widely.<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s official figure is roughly 3,000, but other groups say it could be as much as ten 10 times more.<\/p>\n
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency \u2014 which relies on a network of activists in Iran and has produced accurate death counts during previous rounds of unrest \u2014 put the toll at just over 7,000<\/a>, but said almost 12,000 other cases remain under review.<\/p>\nWhatever the number, \u201cwe cannot forgive them,\u201d Rahimi said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWar will weaken the regime\u2019s security and military forces. There is no other way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Special correspondent Mostaghim reported from Tehran and staff writer Bulos from Beirut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEHRAN\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Iranians \u2014 battered by a government crackdown whose dead have yet to be fully tallied, still reeling from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1153,14185,152102,42,87,152104,4212,43,58038,152105,1009,118993,49798,3336,40,38,41,39,152103,152106,2201],"class_list":["post-301835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-conflict","tag-deal","tag-government-crackdown","tag-headlines","tag-iran","tag-iranians-brace","tag-language","tag-news","tag-nuclear-program","tag-oman-brokered-negotiation","tag-president-trump","tag-regime-change","tag-sanction","tag-tehran","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-u-s-demand","tag-u-s-strike","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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