US strikes deepen hardship in southern Iran

TEHRAN: Residents in southern Iran say recent US attacks have worsened already difficult living conditions in a region long marked by poverty and neglect, while not producing fresh support for anti-government protests.

Southern Iran, which lies along the Strait of Hormuz, has been a principal focus of US strikes on ports, energy sites and transport infrastructure. Washington says the campaign is intended to reduce Iran’s capacity to threaten shipping through the strategic waterway. Tehran, however, says the attacks have extended well beyond legitimate military objectives.

More than two dozen residents from the south said the strikes had gone beyond targets with an obvious military purpose. Those interviewed included people who had joined earlier episodes of protest, but none said the conflict had led them to back a new round of unrest.

Amin, who runs a small boarding house for tourists in the south, blamed the attacks for intensifying economic strain.

"Trump has ruined our lives”, he said. Amin also described the personal toll of the war.

"I feel like I’m suffocating”, he asked that his family name not be published for fear of reprisals.

This reaction helps explain why the war has not triggered fresh unrest even in provinces known for opposition activity, despite expectations by US President Donald Trump at the start of the conflict that it might do so.

Discontent persists, but anger turns outward

Opposition to Iran’s government has long existed in the country’s impoverished south. The region includes the provinces of Hormozgan, Bushehr, Khuzestan and Sistan-Baluchistan, stretching along the coast from Iraq to Pakistan. It is home to several ethnic and religious minorities, including a large Arab minority in Khuzestan, Iran’s Balochi ethnic minority in Sistan-Baluchistan, and a Sunni Muslim religious minority in Hormozgan.

Despite containing much of Iran’s oil and gas wealth, residents have for years complained about weak investment, limited economic opportunity and poor public services. Iranian authorities deny any regional, ethnic or religious discrimination.

Hadi, a grocery shop owner in Khuzestan, said the strikes had aggravated daily hardship, especially as electricity outages disrupted access to water during extreme heat.

“The US attacks have deepened our problems. No electricity for hours means no water for hours in this heat”, he said, adding "I love Iran. This war should stop. Enough is enough."

Majid, a 41-year-old engineer in Konarak, said the conflict had brought fresh fear to a town that was already dealing with years of neglect. Nights were marked by explosions, while the daytime brought intense heat, long power cuts and worries that water supplies would fail.

Power outages have been especially severe in provinces where summer temperatures often exceed 40 degrees Celsius, leaving households without air conditioning and interrupting water systems that rely on electric pumps. In Bushehr, where Iran’s only operating nuclear power plant is located, high school student Samad said the nightly attacks had made it difficult for him to concentrate on his examinations.

Reza, 62, a retired teacher in Abadan and a veteran of the 1988-89 Iran-Iraq war, said he would still fight if needed against the United States.

“If my country needs me I’ll take up arms again, not for this regime but for the soil beneath my feet. It’s the least I owe it”, he said.