Outrage, fear, hope: Minnesotans share varied reactions to U.S. attack on Iran
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Over 150 people gathered in Minneapolis Saturday afternoon for a demonstration led by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition following U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran.
“These wars don't benefit ordinary people in the U.S., and they certainly don't benefit ordinary people in countries like Venezuela or Iran,” said Andrew Josefchak, a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee.
Organizers planned the action in response to what they describe as “open aggression” and calls for regime change by President Donald Trump. The group argues that years of escalating U.S. sanctions and recent military action amount to a broader campaign against Iran.
“From Venezuela to Iran, no more sanctions! No more bombs!” chanted protesters.
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Lina Jebara, an organizer with the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, also took issue with President Trump criticizing Iran’s treatment of protestors after this last month of federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota.
“We've seen our own community members gunned down, and we still don't know if there's going to be justice for Alex Pretti and Renee Good,” she said, referring to two people killed by federal agents in Minneapolis. “To say that we have to bomb Iran because they're cracking down on protesters when our administration is doing the same thing is just incredibly hypocritical.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations Minnesota Executive Director Jaylani Hussein called the attack “another effort to destabilize the Middle East and potentially even create a wider war in that region.”
Hussein also told MPR News several Minnesotans were stuck at airports abroad following the attacks.
He said people have called the organization seeking help after planes in the Middle East were grounded Saturday and expressed fear about what the escalation of conflict could mean.
“This is a very tense and dangerous moment, knowing how that region has continuously faced decades of wars,” said Hussein. “This looks like a potential war where it's possible that U.S. troops will be asked to go in, so it's very nerve-wracking for the community.”
Hussein says it's unclear how long planes will be grounded. CAIR is reaching out to U.S. congressional offices to look into options to help get citizens home.
Cause for hope among some Iranian Americans
Parham Alaei is co-founder of the Minnesota Committee in Support of a Democratic Iran, which started in 2009 to raise awareness of human rights violations in the Middle Eastern country.
Alaei moved to the U.S. in 1983 to continue his studies and said he wasn’t able to return home. He now works as a professor at the University of Minnesota.
He said people within Iran expected this escalation and hope it will result in a transition to a democratic system.
“There is hope that people have,” said Alaei. “It's bad that we got to this point, that people actually hope for external powers to bring about or facilitate change, but we believe this may serve as a catalyst for a change in Iran.”
Alaei said internet was cut off in Iran Saturday morning, so he can no longer contact family and friends. Prior to the cutoff, he said he saw videos of people dancing in Tehran.
He’s optimistic that Iranians will take control over their government.
Minnesota DFL politicians slam attack
Most of Minnesota’s DFL delegation to U.S. Congress slammed the attacks.
U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, the top Democrat on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, called the military strikes "unlawful" and said Trump should have gotten approval from Congress.
“He started another war in the Middle East. He's put our service men and women's lives on the line,” McCollum told MPR News. “State Department, embassy employees, as well as all the civilians that live in the countries now that the United States and Israel are dropping bombs on. This is unnecessary, it's wrong and we need to rein in this president's power.”
McCollum said she's demanding a full accounting of Trump's spending and use of service members and anticipates the president will request more military funding.
She called for prayers for the service members ordered to fight, in addition to their families and people living in the Middle East.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar also condemned the strikes, calling the action illegal and unjustified.
Omar is urging Congress to vote on a War Powers resolution to end what she called an “unlawful operation.”
“President Trump literally promised no new wars and campaigned against forever wars, and now he’s doing the exact opposite — putting Minnesota service members in harm’s way,” wrote U.S. Rep. Angie Craig in a social post.
