US attacks deepen hardship, not dissent, in Iran's restive south

DUBAI, July 20 - Opposition to Iran's clerical rulers has long simmered in the country's impoverished south. But after bearing the brunt of U.S. strikes this month, many residents are directing their anger at President Donald Trump and an air campaign they say has upended their lives.

Southern Iran, which borders the Strait of Hormuz, has been a major target of U.S. attacks on ports, energy facilities and transport infrastructure. Washington says the strikes are aimed at curbing Iran's ability to threaten shipping through the strategic waterway. Tehran says they have gone far beyond legitimate military targets.

Most of the more than two dozen southern residents Reuters interviewed by phone or messaging apps agreed that the strikes had gone beyond targets with a clear military purpose.

"Trump has ruined our lives more than the Islamic rulers did," said Amin, who runs a small boarding house for tourists in the south, blaming the U.S. strikes for worsening economic hardship.

Despite long-running hostility towards Tehran in many southern provinces, including among some of Iran's marginalised ethnic minorities, none of those Reuters spoke to said the conflict had generated support for renewed anti-government protests.

NO NEW WAVE OF UNREST IN THE SOUTH

"I feel like I'm suffocating," added Amin. Such frustration with the strikes' impact helps explain why, even in provinces known for anti-government protest, the war has not triggered further unrest — something Trump had hoped for at the start of the conflict.

Like the other Iranians Reuters spoke to, Amin asked that his family name not be published for fear of reprisals.

Reza, 62, a veteran of the 1988-89 Iran-Iraq war, said his son had been detained during mass protests in January and he had little time for Iran's theocratic system. But he was still willing to fight against the United States, he said.

"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," said the retired teacher from his home in Abadan in the southwestern Khuzestan province.

The southerners Reuters spoke to included people who had taken part in previous bouts of protest and described themselves as opponents of the ruling system. But none said they supported renewed unrest for now.

At the same time, few voiced support for Iran's rulers — a potential sign of future problems for Tehran.

The clerical leadership fears prolonged economic hardship could further anger its core base among middle- and low-income Iranians, particularly if a peace deal remains out of reach.

HUGE REGION IS HOME TO SEVERAL ETHNIC MINORITIES

Southern Iran's provinces of Hormozgan, Bushehr, Khuzestan and Sistan-Baluchistan form a large, diverse region stretching along a humid, rugged coastline from Iraq to Pakistan.

Khuzestan is home to a large Arab minority, Sistan-Baluchistan to Iran's Baluchi ethnic minority and Hormozgan to a Sunni Muslim religious minority — groups that have often complained of discrimination in the Persian-majority, Shi'ite Muslim Islamic Republic.

Iran's minorities, who also include Kurds in the west, Azeris in the northwest and Turkmen in the northeast, have been opposed to the ruling clerics for decades.

Grievances range from the right to use native languages in schools and courts to policies that have damaged their local environments and worsened health and other care.

Despite having most of Iran's oil and gas, southerners have also complained of low investment, little opportunity and state services so poor that power networks fail in the scorching summer heat, leaving them to swelter without relief.

"The U.S. attacks have deepened our problems. No electricity for hours means no water for hours in this heat," said Hadi, a grocery shop owner in Khuzestan province.

"I love Iran, not the Islamic Republic and those that are calling for continuation of the war, while sitting in their air-conditioned homes and offices. This war should stop. Enough is enough," he added.

The authorities deny any regional, ethnic or religious discrimination. But during mass anti-government unrest in January, and during earlier bouts of protest in 2022 and 2019, some southern areas were seen as active centres of opposition.

Majid, a 41-year-old engineer in Konarak, said the war had brought new fear to a town already struggling with years of neglect: nights filled with the sound of explosions, followed by days of heat, hours of darkness and fears of empty water pipes.

Power cuts have become especially punishing in provinces where summer temperatures regularly climb above 40 degrees Celsius (104 F), leaving families without air conditioning and disrupting water supplies that depend on electric pumps.

In Bushehr, home to Iran's one working nuclear power plant, high school student Samad said he could not focus on his exams because of the nightly attacks. "I wanted freedom, but look what Trump brought for us," he said. REUTERS