Oregonians with ties to Iran spent Tuesday living in fear for their family members as President Trump warned that “a whole civilization will die,” only to ultimately back off his threats of mass destruction by agreeing to a ceasefire.
With less than two hours before the president’s self-imposed deadline of 5 p.m. Pacific Time for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, an oil shipping route, the president announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran. Some Oregonians breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank god!” Samira Sahebi, who has family in the country, said in a text message when a reporter told her the news.
It was not immediately clear what the agreement would mean for the war, as talks between the countries are ongoing. Sahebi said she does not expect the ceasefire to last.
“This relief in our eyes is very temporary,” she said.
But Tuesday’s saga had Oregonians worried that the conflict in the Middle East might grow to a new level of destruction, showing how the president’s foreign policy efforts are stirring anxiety among Americans.
“Nuclear war is probably the biggest concern,” state Rep. Farrah Chaichi, D-Aloha, said Tuesday. “No matter if you have family in the region that might be attacked or not, we should be worried.”
Chaichi, whose father immigrated from Iran, said she has family who live in the country, but she hasn’t heard from them in recent days because their internet has been shut off. She has kept in touch with them via WhatsApp, but lately her messages have not been returned.
“It’s like a pit in your stomach all the time,” said Chaichi, who added: “I can’t believe that this is the world that we live in right now. And I hope that there are enough layers of bureaucracy between him and that nuclear button that this isn’t real.”
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers in Oregon and beyond condemned the president’s threats.
U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Portland, and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley held a press briefing in Portland alongside U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, Tuesday afternoon.
They demanded that Trump back off his promised escalation, and urged Congressional Republicans to pressure the president – both behind closed doors and with a formal War Powers Resolution to end the conflict.
“These are apocalyptic words about attacking the civilian infrastructure and the civilians of another nation,” Merkley said. “It is 1000% out of sync with the principles of our nation and international principles.”
Among Oregonians worrying about family in Iran was Sahebi, who did hear from relatives in the country Tuesday.
“In hopes of saving the Iranian people from their brutal regime, we cannot destroy their country, their infrastructure, their desalination plants, their bridges, their healthcare, their schools, their food supplies,” said Sahebi, who is the secretary of the board of directors at Free Iran PDX, a community support organization for Iranians living in Portland. “We cannot do that to a people.”
Sahebi worried that an escalated conflict risked radicalizing people in the Middle East, as has happened in places like Syria and Gaza.
“They’re supposed to go after military personnel and military structure, not destroy the lives of everyday people and children,” Sahebi said. “It’s also bad for our brand around the world. As an American, I don’t want that for us.”
Speaking at the Portland press event Merkley, Dexter and Booker urged Republicans to join their calls on Trump to back down. Dexter acknowledged this may be challenging for many in the GOP.
“If you talk to Donald Trump and take an alternative perspective to his, he shuts you out,” she said. ”He stops talking to you. But if a preponderance, a critical mass, is saying the same thing, we know there’s safety in numbers.”
Booker, who said he was in Portland as part of a global book tour, joined Merkley and Dexter at the press conference. He said Democrats in the Senate, the people of America, and Republicans in Congress need to stand up and “ultimately the power of the people will prevail.”
“War is evil,” he said. “Sometimes it’s a necessary evil, but it’s always an evil. This one is an unconstitutional evil. The only thing necessary for it to continue is for good people to do nothing.”
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, the sole Republican in Oregon’s Congressional delegation, did not return a request for comment on Trump’s threats.
Other Democrats were eager to talk. On Tuesday morning, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden called Trump “deranged” in a social media post.
“He must be impeached and removed from office,” Wyden said. “Republicans who don’t stop him will have blood on their hands, and anyone who carries out an order to bomb civilian targets will be complicit in war crimes and will be held accountable.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
