By Ashlyn Brothers
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) — Tensions between nations escalated after the United States withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Deal in May of 2018. William Motazedi, dual citizen of the U.S. & Iran, said withdrawing from the deal infringed on Iran’s economic benefits & international development.
“All that went away once we started to withdraw from that deal which created, if you look back at it, the tension with Iranians in the Strait of Hormuz when they were taking oil tankers & things like that,” Motazedi said.
Months of tyranny lead up to President Donald Trump’s air-strike in Iraq killing General Qassem Soleimani on January 3, 2020. According to the Defense Department, 50 U.S. service members suffered a traumatic brain injury from the Iranian missile attack on Iraqi bases where Americans were stationed, as of Tuesday, January 28. Animosity between America & Iran invoked fear of war, so unsettled veterans & student activists used Dickson Street to voice their concerns Saturday, January 29.
Attendees of the “Stop War on Iran” march & rally, organized by the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology, sounded cowbells & beat on drums, calling for action to stop the savagery & sanctions.
“We want justice, we want peace. U.S. out of the Middle East,” protestors said.
Annie Shook, co-president of UARK for Bernie & OMNI member, said she doesn’t expect change overnight, rather she hopes the protest along with future demonstrations will allow the effort to grow in size.
“Hopefully this becomes like just a swell of people to the point where we can’t be ignored & we can actually get that message across & withdraw from these conflicts. We can withdraw from these countries that we shouldn’t have been in in the first place,” Shook said.
America & Iran have an extensive & unhappy history. Shook attributes the downfall of foreign relations to the War Hawks in Washington.
“The root of it is just corruption, muddied interest, all of this, the military-industrial complex,” Shook said. “We want diplomacy, but it’s also a broader commentary about imperialism.”
Meanwhile, Itamar Basteker, international student from Israel, believes the actions of America might prove useful.
“Protesting against war is good, but in what conditions? We want to be outside of this conflict but let things burn out, or the U.S. want to control the situation & make it more stable over there,” said Basteker. “As an Israeli, it’s a good thing. It’s necessary. If the U.S. wants to be a responsible nation in this war & very effective & dominant, then they should be in the Middle East. It’s an unstable land.”
Basteker said killing General Soleimani wasn’t just a strategic move but a necessary one.
“I consider him as a dead man. I think Trump did the right thing when he got the chance to kill him and he did it,” Basteker said. “The Middle East, it’s a burning land. There’s always going to be someone. Someone is always going to be dead.”“
America imposed sanctions targeting the Islamic republic’s economy but has allowed access to medication for cancer & organ transplant patients. This is something UA Emeritus Professor Hoyt Purvis believes only stokes the fire. Purvis told UATV that sanctions have often been used to try & bring about change in foreign policy without going to war.
“In this particular situation, the reality is the Iranians are very stubborn, uh, on this, & I don’t say that in, you know, a light-hearted way,” said Purvis. “They’re stubborn because they think that they’re in the right. For anything to impose on Iranian sovereignty is not fair & not just.”
Motazedi said it’s important to protect America’s interests, but not at the expense of Iranians’ lives.
“Right now it’s destroying the ability for Iranians to have agency & change,” Motazedi said.
Motazedi’s mother is from the United States, while his father was born in Iran. Growing tensions between America & Iran created personal conflicts for Motazedi as he tried to embrace both cultures.
“Whenever I see that, you know, there’s a chance that people in Iran could be the subject of war & that Americans could be putting our troops on the ground in the Middle East like that is very frustrating to me,” Motazedi said.
Motazedi said he sees Iran as more than just an aggressive country in the Middle East. Many individuals, including Motazedi, fear harsh military action could erase the human aspect of war.
“I see it as a country of 8 million people with culture & food & you know 1000s of years of history,” said Motazedi. ” [T]hat’s what scares me the most. Not really the war, but what happens to the people,” Motazedi said.
The human sacrifice scares many, which is why OMNI invited a veteran to speak during the rally. This encouraged people to recognize what war does to those who fight it firsthand.
“When I came home I couldn’t sleep for days at a time. I had constant brain fog. I felt like a stranger in my own house. My family bonds were weakened. I was always on alert, always scanning crowds, always armed & I was on a hair-trigger at all times,” said a U.S. veteran who served in the Soviet-Afghan War.
Basteker said nationalism is the ultimate stronghold preventing peace.
“You can’t make peace with someone who wants war,” Basteker said.
Purvis said Iran is not only strongly nationalist but very proud of it. He points out that both countries think they have good reason to resent each other & avoid cooperation.
“Iran also wants to be the big guy in the neighborhood & that again sets up some potential conflicts with the United States, because the United States’ view is that we don’t need anybody to be the big guy in the neighborhood,” Purvis said.
When asked what it would take to reach a peaceful agreement, Purvis said it’s going to take something other than the current administration.
“[F]or better or worse, President Trump has made it clear that he has a very critical view of Iranian leadership,” Purvis said.
Motazedi was asked a similar question to which he responded that people need to pay respect to Iranian & American people as a whole.
“If we take a step back & we think about negotiating with our countries from a level of respect & from a level of passion instead of a viewpoint of aggression & politics then we can see a lot more success,” Motazedi said.
Yassaman Mirdamadi, Iranian native & U.S. citizen, expressed her frustrations. Mirdamadi said she knows Trump’s children wouldn’t be drafted & neither would the Mohammad Reza Shah’s loved ones. She believes these unreasonable actions are punishing the people, not the government.