“If one thing the Islamic Republic said was true, it’s that these two countries are totally untrustworthy, they don’t even adhere to their own stated values,” Somayeh says.
Others now specifically blame Trump for their country’s economic woes. “Believe me, some people are already even going hungry,” says Hesam, “and it’s all the fault of that stupid blond realtor.”
For others, seeing the regime proven right is unpleasant. “America and Israel … proved they’re enemies of the Iranian people, and whenever the Islamic Republic is proven right in something, it just makes them even more arrogant in everything,” says Ali.
Neda, an activist in her 40s who has been imprisoned in the past for criticizing the regime, has noticed a palpable shift.
“So many of the people around me, relatives, neighbors, friends, now truly believe that the Islamic Republic was correct when it said that Israel and the United States are the sworn enemy of the Iranian people,” she recounts. “What Trump and that yabu have done is only make the core of the Islamic Republic stronger, more revolutionary,” she says, using a word that translates to “mule” in reference to Netanyahu.
