Peace movements need to emphasise today that the people of Iran and the US are not at war with each other
WHEN two countries go to war, it is not realised adequately that their people may not want the war imposed on them due to factors beyond their control. This is particularly true in the context of unpopular wars and this is certainly true in the context of the ongoing Iran war.
According to available data, the Iran war of 2026 has been found in polls and surveys conducted among Americans to be the most unpopular among all major wars at an initial stage. The general record has been that with the passage of time, wars tend to be more unpopular with their various deceptions and horrors revealed gradually. This is certainly true for the wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
What is more, the opposition to the US government choosing to start this war would have been much higher if the following well-established facts were well known to most of its citizens:
• Iran had already agreed in 2015 not to go for nuclear weapons and, as made clear by the JCPOA agreement and its international monitoring, confirming that Iran was sincerely adhering to its part of the agreement. But it is the US, in Donald Trump’s first tenure, that withdrew unilaterally from this agreement.
• Iran had subsequently, in Trump’s second tenure too, given enough indications that it was willing to make peace by giving up the nuclear weapon options.
• Just before the attack, in the talks in Oman involving the US and Iran, Tehran had agreed to more specific commitments regarding giving up the nuclear weapon option, perhaps going further than ever before on this path in its negotiations.
• Hence, the most frequently mentioned reasons that had been given for years concerning Iran’s threats to the US or its ally Israel had been removed before the attacks on Iran started on February 28.
• When Iran had embarked on a democratic path under a highly popular elected leader, Prime Minister Mossadegh, it was in fact the US and its close ally, Britain, who had conspired to illegally remove him in 1953 for narrow reasons relating to oil big business interests and profits. It was this coup that then removed Iran from the path of democracy.
Surely if all these facts were known very widely to the Americans, then their opposition to the war against Iran would have been much higher.
Hence, it is clear that the people of the US are not at all at war with the people of Iran. In fact, they do not want this war, but once it has started, they want this to end as early as possible.
It is equally clear that the people of Iran do not want a war with the people of the US. In fact, this war involves such great sufferings for them that it must be very obvious that they do not want this war imposed on them. It is also obvious that even the most powerful leaders of Iran, despite their long-lasting disputes with the US leadership and despite the aggravation of this in Trump’s tenures, did not want a war and, in fact, went out of their way to try to clinch a peace deal even after suffering the first attack of June 2025.
This draws attention to the wider reality that while in common discussion two countries may be repeatedly stated to be at war with each other, most of the people of the two countries may have no desire, inclination or feelings to be in war with each other (and such feelings are likely to be even more intense if the entire reality of the war is well-known to most people). Often, it is very powerful ruling elites and big business interests which manipulate the relationships, sensitivities and feelings of people in such a way as to relentlessly promote hostilities, suspicions and falsehoods to push countries into war. The peace movements should play an important role in placing the realities before people, which in the present context also involves explaining clearly that the people of Iran and the people of the US are not at war with each other.
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Bharat Dogra writes extensively on environment, development and welfare issues. The views expressed here are the writer’s own, and Clarion India does not necessarily subscribe to them. He can be reached at:bharatdogra1956@gmail.com
