Donald Trump's threats to target Iran’s power plants and bridges in case of Tehran's failure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday night have triggered anxiety among many Iranians, even as some say the regime's survival poses a greater threat.
Eyewitnesses talking to Iran International say they are deeply concerned about the consequences of disruptions to electricity and water, warning of immediate risks to daily life and vulnerable populations.
“We are worried about attacks on energy infrastructure; power and water cuts will make already difficult living conditions even worse,” one Tehran resident said.
Others highlighted the potential human cost, especially for patients. “Please just bring down the regime itself; cutting electricity would endanger many sick people,” another message said.
Some also warned that targeting power facilities could play into the hands of authorities. “I ask the US and Israel not to strike power plants, because the Revolutionary Guards would be even more pleased to see people suffer,” one person wrote.
Reports have also emerged of officials urging civilians to gather near sensitive sites, including power plants, effectively forming human shields—raising further alarm among residents.
Trump sharply criticized Tehran’s reported call for civilians to act as human shields around power plants amid his threat to bomb the facilities, NBC News reported, citing a brief phone call with him. “Totally illegal,” he said. “They’re not allowed to do that.”
At the same time, a number of citizens said that despite these fears, they view the survival of the Islamic Republic as the greater danger.
“We are afraid of attacks on infrastructure, but we are more afraid of the regime staying,” one message read. “If they remain, we will certainly face more executions and repression. We endure this once and for all.”
Another said: “Power and water cuts are extremely frightening—but the continuation of the Islamic Republic is even more terrifying.”
Widespread strikes on infrastructure
Recent days have seen reports of extensive attacks on Iran’s economic infrastructure. Electricity and utility facilities linked to steel and petrochemical industries in cities such as Shiraz and Asaluyeh have repeatedly been hit.
Even the Bushehr nuclear power plant—monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency and used for civilian electricity production—has been targeted. No serious damage has been reported, but locals are said to be seriously concerned about possible radiation exposure.
Health authorities in Bushehr have distributed 180,000 iodine tablets among residents as part of a crisis preparedness plan.
Several universities and research institutions, including the Pasteur Institute of Iran, which produces vaccines, have also come under attack.
For many, such strikes are seen not as blows to the government but to national assets and the future of ordinary citizens.
Fear of power plant destruction
Among all threats, the possibility of attacks on power plants has generated the most anxiety.
Critics warn that destroying electricity infrastructure could cripple hospitals, water systems, and food supply chains, while triggering mass unemployment.
“If the power goes out, thousands of people in ICUs, newborns, and patients in operating rooms will die,” one user wrote, pointing to the cascading impact on medicine storage, water pumps, fuel distribution, and banking systems.
Others stressed the psychological toll. “Even imagining a complete blackout causes severe anxiety,” one message said, adding that prolonged outages would deepen an already strained situation.
At the same time, some residents argued that years of mismanagement had already left infrastructure unreliable.
“Did we really have stable water and electricity with this government?” one person asked. “We will endure hardship until they are gone.”
Islamic Republic is to blame
Some opposition voices say responsibility for the crisis ultimately lies with Iran’s leadership and its policies.
They argue that while strikes on infrastructure are damaging, the current system poses a longer-term threat to the country’s future.
“For me, what matters is the removal of the Islamic Republic,” one message read. “Our real infrastructure was our young people, and they were taken from us.”
Others framed the choice in stark terms, saying they would accept years of hardship if it meant a decisive end to the current system.
Tehran’s unveiling of a towering statue depicting the Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling before pre-Islamic Persian King Shapur I has renewed criticism of the Islamic Republic’s appeal to nationalist sentiment following the June war with Israel.
For over forty years, the theocracy purged ancient Persian history from schoolbooks, replacing it with post-Islamic narratives. But after the 12-day conflict with Israel, officials have turned to the distant pre-Islamic past to rally a divided society.
From murals of ancient kings and soldiers to patriotic songs added to Shi’ite mourning ceremonies performed before Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran now embraces imagery once deemed heretical by its own revolutionary ethos.
'Kneel before Iran' campaign
Tehran’s Revolution (Enghelab) Square was the scene of an unusual spectacle on Friday as officials unveiled a massive bronze statue depicting Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling in submission before Sassanid King Shapur I, commemorating Iran’s victory at the Battle of Edessa (260 AD).
The event was held under the slogan “Kneel before Iran,” part of what authorities describe as a campaign to project “national unity and historical pride” following the June war with Israel.
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, a staunch ultraconservative, said on X: “Enmity with Great Iran can only end in kneeling before this historic nation.”
Municipal official Davood Goodarzi said the installation would be accompanied by visual displays depicting “other victories of Iranians over foreign aggressors,” including the defeat of British forces by local commander Rais-Ali Delvari, Mirza Kuchak Khan’s resistance against Russian troops, and Surena’s triumph over Rome at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE.
The goal, Goodarzi said, is “strengthening concepts such as national dignity, social unity, and Iranian identity.”
The statue, he said, would remain temporarily at Revolution Square before being moved to a city gateway “where it will stand as the first emblem of Iran before diplomats and foreign visitors.”
Unveiled women were allowed to attend the unveiling ceremony—an uncommon scene at events organized by Tehran’s ultra-hardline municipality.
The turn to the pre-Islamic past
The sharp reversal also recalls remarks once made by Khamenei. In a 2011 speech, he asserted that “all the great military victories of this nation came after Islam,” dismissing pre-Islamic accounts as “things that are not documented.”
In 1987, he had said that prophets triumphed over kings such as Cyrus and that “nothing remains of these monarchs in history but names remembered with derision.”
Nevertheless, pro-government social media accounts have now gone so far as to circulate posters equating Khamenei himself with Shapur, showing him standing with a staff as Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump kneel before him. The caption reads: “You will kneel before Iran.”
'Hypocrisy'
Pro-government figures have hailed the move as a patriotic success. Conservative political reporter Hossein Saremi posted: “Today’s grand Iranian gathering showed that people and the state share one essence: Iran itself. Nothing can take our homeland away.”
Others, however, called the spectacle “hypocrisy.” Journalist Gholamhossein Pashaei wrote on X: “Every year you close Pasargadae to stop people from celebrating Cyrus Day, yet you unveil Shapur’s statue in Enghelab Square with drums and fireworks during Fatimiyya (mourning period)!”
Dissident commentator Hamid Asafi called the ceremony “a perfect snapshot of the Islamic Republic’s contradictions.”
On Telegram he wrote: “A week ago they closed Cyrus’s tomb out of fear of the crowds, and now they glorify Shapur in the same breath. The Islamic Republic fears living history but poses for selfies with its corpse.”
He added: “They know people no longer respond to rosaries and sermons. That’s why they’ve brought history back to the stage—in a controlled costume. If they can’t erase the past, they’ll try to own it.”
The irony deepened as UNESCO formally recognized Cyrus’s Charter as one of the earliest human-rights documents.
President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X: “Iran, the cradle of dialogue, justice, and coexistence, can still inspire peace today.”
Users swiftly replied, questioning how such pride could coexist with a government that blocks access to Cyrus’s tomb each year to those wishing to visit it on his birthday.