SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Word of the potential ceasefire is being cautiously welcomed by many in the Bay Area.
“This could be a good temporary solution, but these guys have been a nuisance not just to Israel but to the entire stability of the region,” said Arman Mahmoudi.
Mahmoudi is an organizer for the group Bay Area 4 Iran. He fears even if the war ends, the weakened Islamic Republic may crack down on its own citizens to stay in power.
‘When somebody is arrested for being a protester, it’s not just them who pays the cost. We have people who were executed for being a protester and then their entire family paid the cost for them being a protester,” Mahmoudi said.
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The Islamic Republic’s brutal tactics were also noted by University of San Francisco professor Stephen Zunes, who specializes in Middle Eastern politics.
Zunes says even if the Iranian people wanted to replace their government, doing so would likely not be easy.
“The overwhelming majority of dictators that have been overthrown and replaced by democratic governments have been through democratic civil society organizations using nonviolent civil resistance,” said Zunes.
Many local Israelis also reacted to the news of the potential ceasefire.
At San Francisco’s congregation Anshey Sfard, Rabbi Avigdor Ashtar says he’s been concerned with the impact that war has had on his home country.
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The rabbi also tells me he still worries about the potential of Iran developing nuclear weapons in the future.
“I believe if they will have the capability to go and rebuild it, unfortunately I believe that they’re going to do that because history shows that,” Rabbi Ashtar said.
As for Mahmoudi, he doesn’t want the issue of nuclear weapons to become a distraction from the harsh conditions faced by so many Iranians.
He hopes one day all of that will come to an end.
“The only true peace, I’d say, and long-lasting ceasefire in the Middle East would be the end of the Islamic Republic,” Rabbi Ashtar said.