When I started this blog, my goal was simple: write about technology and share my experience with the tools and technologies I work with.

Even in my last article about the internet blackout in Iran, I deliberately avoided discussing politics, or the reasons behind it. I focused only on the technical side of what happened.

But sometimes, you simply can't close your eyes, pretend nothing happened, and move on.

On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched a military attack against my country, Iran. The war began only two months after a major wave of protests inside Iran, protests that resulted in the deaths of both civilians and government personnel.

I'm not a supporter of the government, nor do I belong to any opposition political movement. This article isn't about our internal political issues or the many problems we face as a country.

Personally, I believe people have every right to protest. And regardless of politics, even the death of a single person during such events is one death too many.

People still argue about how many lives were lost during those protests. The government claims more than 3,000. Others claim the number exceeded 40,000. But the exact number doesn't change the principle: if even one innocent person loses their life, that is already unacceptable.

None of that, however, gives any foreign country the right to invade another nation under the excuse of "supporting its people."

And those who call themselves Iranian while celebrating or supporting foreign military attacks against Iran have, in my opinion, abandoned any sense of humanity and national responsibility.

Bombs and missiles are not a solution to political problems—especially when they come from countries that have repeatedly shown little respect for the very human rights they claim to defend.

These governments claimed they came to bring freedom. Yet, according to reports, on the very first day of the war they carried out a double-tap Tomahawk missile strike against the Shajareh Tayyebeh School in Minab, killing 168 students and teachers. Later that same day, a sports hall in Mallard was struck while a women's volleyball team was practicing, leaving more than twenty people dead.

Civilian locations were hit—places that are protected under the laws of war—including the 12,000-seat Azadi Stadium in Tehran, Gandhi Hospital, emergency medical centers across several cities, fuel storage facilities, Sharif University of Technology, desalination plants in southern Iran, and many other civilian sites.

Leaders and officials from these countries openly spoke about destroying our nation, erasing Iran from the map, taking us back to the Stone Age, and eliminating civilian infrastructure.

Perhaps what is hardest for many politicians—and even many ordinary people around the world—to understand is what happened next.

Despite all our political disagreements, economic hardships, and internal problems, millions of Iranians have spent more than four months gathering in the streets to protest the war and condemn the attacks by the United States and Israel.

Many of the very same people who were protesting against their own government just two months earlier are now standing together under the Iranian flag in defense of their homeland.

Once again, they showed something that has happened throughout our history: when Iran faces a foreign attack, political divisions become secondary. People may disagree with each other about almost everything, but when it comes to defending their country against an outside force, they stand together.

Iran is a civilization that has existed for thousands of years.

From Cyrus the Great to generations of scientists, philosophers, poets, and scholars, this land has contributed to human civilization and has survived countless wars, invasions, and empires.

It is not a nation that can simply be erased.

A civilization that gave the world achievements such as the Cyrus Cylinder, early advances in medicine, algebra, one of the earliest organized postal systems, and countless other contributions deserves better than this.

No, we haven't forgotten our own problems.

When this war is over, many of us may once again protest, criticize our government, and demand change.

But during a war, before anything else, we are Iranians.

And that matters more than any political disagreement.

What troubles me most is something much larger than this war.

Too many people judge every conflict based on geography, nationality, or political alliances instead of universal principles. Double standards have become normal.

When war breaks out in Europe, the entire world condemns it, and hashtags like #StandWithUkraine spread everywhere.

But when similar wars happen in Africa, the Middle East, or Central Asia, the world's attention often fades away.

Perhaps instead of standing with one country or another, we should stand with peace itself.

The hashtag shouldn't depend on where a war happens.

It should simply be:

StandWithPeace

It doesn't matter whether the aggressor is your ally, like the United States or Israel, or your rival, like Russia.

War should be condemned regardless of who starts it or what justification is offered.

That responsibility belongs to all of us.

We should never celebrate war.

We should never encourage it.

And we should never become so politically divided that we stop seeing the human cost behind every missile, every bomb, and every life lost.

I hope the day comes when no child, in any country, has to grow up hearing air raid sirens.

I hope one day, nowhere on this planet, there will be another war.

StandWithPeace

ARIAIEBOY July 1, 2026