Israel has brought us hope for the end of this regime, say residents of Iran

The primary aim of Operation Rising Lion – Israel’s military campaign against the Iranian government – has been to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. But a secondary ambition emerged during the first few days of the conflict: regime change. 

Addressing the Iranian people on Fox News, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “You are people of great talent and genius. You have been usurped by this tyranny that has robbed you of hope… I say to them, your freedom is near. Rise up. Be free.”

Many ordinary Iranians have long sought the end of the dictatorship that has tormented, imprisoned and executed them – but how do they feel now?

A 24-year-old woman living in Tehran, who graduated from Tehran University about two years ago and continues to live in the capital with her parents, told the JC: “For years, my friends and I have exchanged images and videos [we see on social media] of the lives we wish to have, the lives we would have if the Islamic Regime fell. The lives we will have.

“[My friends and I] have spent some hours on the roof of my apartment building over the last few nights recording what we see on our phones. We have seen rockets land, and it has been terrifying. No one wants to see their country bombed. I wish there was another way.

“But it’s not anger [I have about the airstrikes], it’s apprehension; it’s anxiety. We have been speaking about change in my country for all my life, and now we [are on the cusp] of it. It could finally be here, real change, and that is in a weird way [just as] scary as the missiles.”

One woman living in Iran, 31, younger sister of an active London-based Iranian dissident, said: “I know for certain that the IDF has no enmity against me as an ordinary citizen. My enemy is their enemy: the regime that holds us hostage. Every morning when I wake up, I know I could be arrested – or executed – for something as vague as ‘undermining national security’, ‘insulting the Prophet’, or ‘offending the Supreme Leader’.

“Even if I escape such accusations, I still live with the daily risk of being killed by the regime’s incompetence and corruption — from the collapse of buildings like the Metropol, to deadly explosions, to the downing of civilian aircraft.

“In the last few days, the regime executed a man named Mojahed Korkor, falsely accusing him of murdering a child named Kian Pirfalak. They carried out the execution on Kian’s birthday. I cried for hours that day. Sometimes I wish we could simply disappear and save my loved ones from the pain of watching this horror continue.

“But everything changed on Friday. When I heard that senior IRGC commanders had been killed by the Israeli military, I felt something I hadn’t felt in years: hope. For that, Iranians will [be grateful forever], and the histories of our people are [intertwined].”

Another woman, a 42-year-old resident of Qom, said: “No Israeli strikes have fallen on Qom yet, but Fordow (a nuclear mountain lair about 20 miles to the south), has been attacked multiple times. I hope the IDF hits intelligence [sites] in Qom, too.

“In Qom, the people around my age are happy, frightened, and hopeful about the war. Mostly happy. Some people I know used to defend the mullahs’ regime, but by now they’ve grown disappointed.

“We all hope for regime change, the end of the Islamic Republic, and [most] people I know are ready to rise up against the mullahs. But it is hard, they have set up security checkpoints in cities, roads, and there are many government informants among ordinary people.

“I am optimistic for a brighter future. I hope the people of Israel are safe and well – and one day we can celebrate the fall of the Mullahs’ regime together.”

A man, 37, living in Tehran for the past 15 years, said: “We can hear the sounds of fighter jets and bombings often. It can be frightening, but honestly, not more frightening than the idea of the mullahs and IRGC butchers staying in power.

"We know the Israeli strikes of the last few days are targeting regime officials, not ordinary people. That gives us a sense of security. Ordinary people stand on rooftops all over the city with their phones in hand, filming the strikes. That is not curiosity, that is trust. Trust that the Israeli army’s strikes are directed against the regime, not against us.

“There is immense excitement and [a mix of emotions] on the ground. People are both happy and scared at the same time. The fear comes from the concern that the regime might survive the latest pressure and [retaliate] against the people. There are still many [plainclothes agents] and the regime’s security forces who, like the mullahs, don’t want to lose [their grip] on power. They have become even more brutal now that they’re scared themselves.

“We’re eagerly hoping the regime and clerics go to hell. We’re all waiting for the right moment and opportunity [to take to the streets]. If we choose the wrong time to rise up, or international [support for us dries up], we may never get another opportunity.

“My message and my family’s message to the people of Israel is this: thank you for standing with us. We look forward to the day when we can welcome you to Iran. We are two ancient nations – friends and allies at heart.”

A 30-year-old Iranian researcher and artist, Faezeh Alavi, fled Tehran aged 25 to escape the repressive regime and settle in the UK. When she first learnt of Israel launching 200 fighter jets into Iran on Friday, she was immediately worried about the civilian causalities. But she also felt a feeling of: “Finally, it happened.”

Iranian researcher and artist Faezeh Alavi fled Tehran aged 25 to escape the repressive regime and settle in the UK. (Photo: Faezeh Alavi)[Missing Credit]

“Previous to this attack, it’s important to know that Iranians have been in a war with the regime for a long time,” she says. “It wasn’t like Israel started this attack – the Islamic Regime in Iran started the war, both against the Iranian people and against Israel since 1979.”

The Iranian people have consistently voiced opposition to the regime — from the 2009 demonstrations after the shooting of 26-year-old student Neda Agha-Soltan at a protest, to the birth of the Women, Life, Freedom movement following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in 2022 after being arrested by Iran's morality police over alleged “improper” hijab.

When it comes to preventing the regime from developing a nuclear weapon, Alavi thinks diplomacy is dead-end. “This regime is not open to reform. Any deal that happens between the United States and the regime will not be long-lasting,” she says.

Israel’s offensive - which targeted Iran’s uranium enrichment plant at Natanz - came less than a day after the global nuclear watchdog – the International Atomic Energy Agency – made the revelation that the Islamic regime was violating its nuclear obligations.

In the wake of the attack, Netanyahu claimed Iran was only a few months away from producing a bomb, while the Israeli military said it accumulated intelligence showing that the regime was approaching a point of “no return”, including developing a uranium metal core and a neutron source initiator necessary for triggering a nuclear explosion.

When asked about the scale of opposition within Iran, Alavi notes how it is impossible to give exact figures – “because Iran is not a free country, we cannot have access to the data” – but emphasises that the vast majority of Iranians, potentially 80 per cent, are not in favour of the regime and do not align with its values.

The impact of Israeli missiles on the Iranian civilian population is devastating. On Monday morning, the authorities said 224 had died since Friday. But for Alavi, the population has historically been targeted by the regime itself, which is “oppressing Iranian people at home and other nationalities in the region”. She references the shooting down of Flight PS752 in 2020 by the Revolutionary Guards air defence unit, after it took flight from Tehran, killing all 176 occupants on board including 146 Iranians.

In the coming weeks, she expects mass protests to erupt in Iran against the regime. “War is dangerous, but at the same time, this is a dictatorship regime, and we should make it collapse, so this is an opportunity to finally make it happen.”