A Response to the War in Iran: Let Us Not Be Silent

As war continues to rage in the Middle East, families spend night after night in bomb shelters, and leaders continue to deliver vague messaging about the intentions behind Operation Epic Fury. The prevailing question on everyone’s minds is: When will this end? 

Demanding the end to suffering is the natural response to ongoing war, stress and exhaustion. U.S. service members have been killed in the fallout of Operation Epic Fury. Buildings in Central Israel have been flattened. People have lost their homes, their lives, their sense of normalcy and structure. The Iranian people, who have suffered enough, have been subjected to even more bloodshed, violence and bombings. When will it be enough? 

It is most understandable to ask these questions, and it is simultaneously vital to remember what brought us to this point in the first place, what the U.S. and Israel are fighting against and what they are fighting for. 

When the monarchy fell in 1979, the Islamic Republic was established under Ruhollah Khomeini, who soon instated strict religious law and eliminated western influences. His successor Ali Khamenei continued his authoritarian rule, with a regime defined by brutality and silencing dissent. It was under this regime, in 2022, that Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman, was detained for disobeying dress codes by not wearing her hijab correctly. She died while in custody, and her death sparked waves of protests, leading to the Women, Life, Freedom movement. 

The disintegration of what was once a great country into what today has become the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism — the head of the octopus whose tentacles have been attacking Israel’s borders for decades — culminated in another mass protest in Tehran, beginning in December 2025. Fed up with a faltering economy as a result of years of war and sanctions, the Iranian people took to the streets, forming mass demonstrations in the name of reclaiming freedom and demanding governmental change.

During an internet shutdown, protestors and bystanders were met by Iranian police with killings and sweeping arrests. Between Jan. 8 and 9 alone, upwards of 30,000 protestors were murdered by IRGC police. 

Let it be known that they were not naive to the brutal response their protest would receive. 

As the humanitarian crisis worsened in Iran, public pressure mounted for the U.S. to step in. There were talks of regime change, of Iran’s government hovering at a uniquely vulnerable position. Finally, the United States and Israel struck Iran on Feb. 28. 

Since the beginning of the war, the Iranian air force has been weakened and top leaders, including Khamenei, were killed as key nuclear facilities were bombed. Furthermore, a future of safety and stability will not be possible until Iran’s nuclear program is dismantled completely. It does not need to be said what would happen if Iran managed to obtain a nuclear weapon. They have already fired around 300 rockets at Israeli civilians and neighboring countries and airports, including illegal cluster warheads that are difficult to intercept. They have made it clear that their goal is the destruction of the Western World. All attempts to quash these aspirations are warranted, timely and necessary. 

That said, war inevitably reaps destruction. We at The Commentator pray for and are endlessly grateful for all the American and Israeli soldiers risking their lives for the sake of freedom in the Middle East, and stand for the rights and freedoms of the Iranian people who deserve to not live under an oppressive authoritarian regime determined to destroy the U.S. and Israel. 

Editor’s Note: For an article to be designated under the byline of “The Commentator Editorial Board,” a minimum of 75% of editorial board members, including the editors in chief, are required to give their assent.