Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

While studying at SUNY ESF, Ph.D. candidate Sina Jarahizadeh said he received text messages from the Islamic Republic of Iran warning him against speaking up on behalf of the Iranian people.

The messages, which Jarahizadeh said he and his family living in Iran were sent on their Persian phone lines, read that all of their assets in the country would be seized by the government if they engaged in any political activity opposing the regime.

For Jarahizadeh, the messages are one of many examples emphasizing the need for a change in government in Iran — one he not only hopes, but expects, to see following United States interference in the Iran war.

“Trust does not exist at all between the Islamic Republic and people of Iran or Persians,” Jarahizadeh said. “That is the difference maybe (between) this war and all the other wars that are happening or have happened in the past.”

For months, Iranian students across the world have organized against the government’s crackdown on protesters in Iran and an ongoing internet blackout by their current regime.

On Feb. 28, President Donald Trump launched a missile strike on the capital Tehran, killing Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The attacks, which Trump said were intended to “take back the country,” were sanctioned without congressional approval and have resulted in over 1,600 casualties.

The ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran has spread beyond each country’s borders through Iranian attacks on U.S. allies, including Israel and the Gulf states. Hezbollah militants, backed by the Islamic regime, are firing attacks on Israel from southern Lebanon, leading to the displacement of about 700,000 Lebanese people, mostly fleeing the strikes.

As of March 25, Trump announced the deployment of around 2,000 soldiers to the Middle East from the 82nd Airborne Division, which specializes in quickly and forcibly entering military zones and completing parachute assaults.

Jarahizadeh said he has “no doubt” that the U.S.’s interference was justified to aid in a switch from Iran’s current regime.

“Most of the people know that the regime is going to be changed, no matter what,” Jarahizadeh said. “The only difference is, if there’s no such strike, it will happen with more people being killed inside Iran (and) more civilians being killed.”

Mehdi Nejatbakhsh, a sociology Ph.D. candidate at Syracuse University, said many Iranians, including himself, also have conflicting feelings regarding the U.S. strikes, but feel “hopeful” that the country may be turning in a more “positive” direction.

“It might sound contradictory from an outside perspective, but there are fears and concerns about human losses or our families in Iran,” Nejatbakhsh said. “But, at the same time, many hope that this war would result in a kind of a regime change that will free up Iran from the current dictatorship.”

Growing up in Iran, Nejatbakhsh said he witnessed many protests during his lifetime, similar to those that sparked the strike. During a Green Movement protest at the University of Tehran, he recalled seeing police entering dorms and “crushing” student protesters, emphasizing a “demand for change” among the Iranian people.

Emma Wahba, an international student from Belgium with family living in Israel, said she feels that without interference from the U.S. and Israel, there would be “no escape” to the cycle of violence from the Islamic regime.

Wahba said she’s heard the war has taken a toll on her Israeli family’s daily lives, forcing them to stay home from school and take cover in bomb shelters frequently, particularly at night. Wahba said this is a “mentally exhausting” tactic for Israeli people and can be especially difficult for older populations.

Despite the real-life impacts her family faces, Wahba said they, along with many others in Israel, still believe in the war’s continuation to put an end to the Islamic regime.

“I feel the entire world should support the Iranian population right now because they’re suffering a lot,” Wahba said. “And Iran has a very powerful impact on the Middle East, so if we disarm the Islamic regime there … I believe we will see a positive impact all around the world.”

Addressing current coverage of strikes from the U.S. and Israel, Wahba said she thinks the media is “strategic” on behalf of protecting Iran’s image to the rest of the world. She pointed to “less discussed” topics, including the storage of ammunition near school buildings in Iran, brought to her attention by her family members in the Israeli military.

Though she’s worried about her family in Israel, Wahba said her family’s grown “used to it.” She said that she sometimes feels more affected than they do due to a rise in antisemitism.

“I feel very insecure living in Belgium because of this war, and I probably feel more insecure living in Belgium than my brother feels about living in Israel,” Wahba said. “You can see on the street that this war is a real excuse to increase antisemitism. We could just see that this war has spread a lot of hate against Jews and also against the United States from Europeans. ”

On campus, however, Wahba said she feels a sense of strength from fellow Jewish students who support her.

Prior to the U.S. strikes, SU students and alumni spoke out against the Iranian government during a protest on the Shaw Quadrangle organized by the Iranian Student Association.

Nejatbakhsh, who previously served as the ISA’s president, said he helped to organize similar protests on and off campus. Though he said protests and calls for change have been “milder” in years prior, recent demonstrations have called directly for regime change.

In a statement to The Daily Orange, the Palestinian Solidarity Association at SU said its advocacy work mainly lies with Palestine, but also emphasized an “interconnectedness of oppression” among “imperial powers,” particularly referencing the U.S. and Israel. On March 20, an Iranian missile fire in the West Bank killed four women.

“These imperial powers will never reflect the interests of the people in their conquests for capital,” PSC members wrote. “And as such, United States and Israeli interventionism anywhere pose a serious threat to people everywhere.”

Mateo Lopez-Castro, a senior studying sociology and television, radio and film, said he believes much of the conflict reflects U.S. intervention in other countries, driven by monetary exploitation and profitability, such as Iran’s oil.

“We like to sort of put out this narrative that we are the foremost example for democracy for human rights, and because of that, we have the credibility and we have the authority to be able to go into other countries and intervene,” Lopez-Castro said.

Andrew Cole, an SU senior studying history and philosophy, said while there is an argument for U.S. intervention in a repressive regime such as Iran, he remains conflicted.

“The only time that I think it’s clear that a war is justified is when another country invades us,” Cole said. “Otherwise, I think like an open table, and we need to be convinced of the fact that we should be at war.”

Echoing Lopez-Castro’s sentiments, Jessica Garcia, a sophomore international relations major, called the war a “waste of taxpayer dollars” based on an unjust involvement on behalf of the U.S.

“I think maybe if a country’s citizens do ask the United States for help, maybe I could see where then intervention could be just,” Garcia said. “But, I think to almost self-impose ourselves as the police of the world, it’s unfair, and I don’t think that’s how it should work.”

Lopez-Castro compared the strikes to U.S. attacks on Venezuela in January to capture their president, Nicolás Maduro, and other examples of U.S. interference as means to “save” other regimes. He said that despite outside interference, Venezuela remains under the control of an authoritarian administration, which he believes would repeat in Iran.

“There’s no change for the people,” Lopez-Castro said. “And so this is the lie that the U.S. has continuously told, and continuously tries to spread out there, to convince people and to justify it to people that, ‘We’re able to do this and we’re allowed to do this and we can do whatever we want.’”

Garcia also referenced a U.S. strike that hit an Iranian girls’ school, killing over 100 children, calling the civilian casualties “heartbreaking.”

“If that were here, that could be like someone’s sibling, someone’s sister,” Garcia said. “So I think when it comes down to civilian life, that’s where the line is. The line is drawn immediately.”

Alex Tingly, a junior and triple major in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, said that while he believes Iran’s current regime is “terrible,” he is wary of continued U.S. interference.

“I think the longer this war drags out, it’s just (going to get) worse and worse and worse,” Tingly said. “More people are gonna die, and I see civilian deaths going up.”

Ava Lydotes, a sophomore psychology major, said she worries about external perceptions of the U.S., especially regarding its stronger allies who may have pulled away during Trump’s presidency.

“I think that it’s difficult, because I feel like the U.S. is continuously embarrassing itself on the world stage,” Lydotes said. “Having a president who’s so trigger-happy to start wars without any sort of real thought process behind it has really, really dire implications for the future of America.”

Though Lydotes said she was glad the “tyrant” in Iran is gone, she said there is a lot of nuance to the conflict, noting it wasn’t the U.S.’s war to start.

Amid the conflict, Nejatbakhsh said he’s noticed more heated debates both in and out of the classroom, along with more “extreme” ideas from both sides, which he said he tries to avoid.

“I hear everyone,” Nejatbakhsh said. “It’s a stressful moment, and it’s not a normal situation.”

Disclaimer: Mateo Lopez-Castro is an opinion columnist for The Daily Orange. He did not influence the editorial content of this article.

Published on April 2, 2026 at 2:44 am
Contact Arabella: akklonow@syr.edu