Often when a country is attacked by another country and two countries are at war, it is not realized adequately that people of both countries may not want this war which has been imposed on them due to factors beyond their control.

This is particularly true in the context of unpopular wars. This is certainly true in the context of the ongoing Iran war.

According to available data, the Iran war of 2026 has been found in polls and surveys conducted among the people of the USA to be the most unpopular war among all major wars at an initial stage. The general record has been that with the passage of time wars tend to be more unpopular at a later stage with the various deceptions and horrors of war being revealed gradually. This is certainly true of the Vietnam War or the Iraq wars and the Afghanistan War.

What is more, it is clear that the opposition to the USA government choosing to start this war would have been much higher if the following well-established facts were well known to most citizens of the USA—

• Iran had already agreed in 2015 not to go for nuclear weapons and, as made clear by the JCPOA agreement and its international monitoring confirming that Iran was sincerely adhering to its part of the agreement, but it is the USA in Trump’s first Presidency which withdrew unilaterally from this agreement.
• Iran had subsequently, in Trump’s second tenure too, given enough indications that it was willing to make peace by giving up the nuclear weapon options.
• Just before the attack, in the talks going on in Oman involving the USA and Iran, Iran had agreed to more specific commitments regarding giving up the nuclear weapon option, perhaps going further than ever before on this path in its negotiations.
• Hence the most frequently mentioned reasons that had been given for years concerning Iran’s threats to the USA or USA ally Israel had been removed before the attack on Iran started on February 28, 2026.
• When Iran had embarked on a democratic path under a highly regarded popular elected leader, Prime Minister Mossadegh, it was in fact the USA and close ally UK who had conspired to illegally remove this elected leader in 1953 for narrow reasons relating to oil big business interests and profits. It was this coup which then removed Iran from the path of democracy.

Surely if all these facts were known very widely to the people of the USA, then their opposition to the war against Iran would have been much higher.

Hence it is clear that the people of the USA are not at all at war with the people of Iran. In fact they do not want this war, but once it has started, they want this to end as early as possible.

It is equally clear that the people of Iran do not want a war with the people of the USA. In fact this war involves such great sufferings for them that it must be very obvious that they do not want this war imposed on them. This is also obvious from the fact that even the most powerful leaders of Iran, despite their long-lasting disputes with the US leadership and despite the aggravation of this in Trump’s first and second presidencies, did not want a war and in fact went out of their way to try to clinch a peace deal even after suffering the first attack of June 2025.

This draws attention to the wider reality that while in common discussion two countries may be repeatedly stated to be in war with each other, most of the people of the two countries may have no desire, inclination or feelings to be in war with each other (and such feelings are likely to be even more intense if the entire reality of the war is well-known to most people). Often it is very powerful ruling elites and big business interests which manipulate the relationships, sensitivities and feelings of people in such ways as to relentlessly promote hostilities, suspicions and falsehoods to push countries into war. The peace movements should play an important role of placing the realities before people, which in the present context also involves explaining clearly that the people of Iran and the people of the USA are not at war with each other.

*

Click the share button below to email/forward this article. Follow us on Instagram and X and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost Global Research articles with proper attribution.

Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Planet in Peril, Protecting Earth for Children, A Day in 2071 and Earth without Borders. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image source

Global Research is a reader-funded media. We do not accept any funding from corporations or governments. Help us stay afloat. Click the image below to make a one-time or recurring donation.