An anonymous Iranian woman has bravely stepped forward on the international stage to describe what’s really happening on the ground in Tehran as President Donald Trump’s two-week ceasefire with Iran tentatively began Tuesday.

In an essay published in The Australian, the anonymous author details nightly explosions, sweeping checkpoints and communications blackouts as a part of Iranian daily life since the beginning of operations launched by the United States and Israel in February.

“In effect, ordinary people have been turned into human shields within a vast militarized landscape,” she wrote. “A pervasive sense of anger, paranoia and exhaustion has taken hold.”

Flagrant public executions of protesters by the thousands by the Iranian regime in January moved residents to cheer on the initial days of attacks by U.S. and Israeli forces as Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28.

WHY TRUMP, IRAN SEEM LIGHT-YEARS APART ON ANY POSSIBLE DEAL TO END THE WAR

“They say they’ve hit the leader’s residence,” the author’s daughter was quoted saying. “All the children were screaming and cheering. … Even our teacher was quietly snapping their fingers and dancing.”

The author described everyday Iranians celebrating the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei that same Saturday, and the streets of Tehran filling with cheers of “death to the dictator.”

“Perhaps for the first time,” the anonymous author recalled, “we allowed ourselves to believe our long-held dream was beginning to take shape.”

RED CROSS SHARES AUDIO OF IRANIAN CIVILIAN EXPLAINING SITUATION ON THE GROUND IN TEHRAN: ‘NO RESPITE’

But soon enough, the reality of day-to-day life under a threatened, crumbling regime and ongoing attacks took a toll. One of the harshest realities those on the ground in Iran face is the internet blackout, effectively ending communications with the outside world and leading to great uncertainty at the hands of the regime.

“So far, none of those close to us have suffered physical harm, but no night is calm,” the Iranian woman wrote. “What weighs most heavily is not only the war itself, but the possibility that it may end leaving behind a regime even more authoritarian, more repressive and more violent.”

According to the author, a stubborn faction of regime supporters remain, blasting propaganda on loudspeakers nightly through the streets of Tehran and reinforcing its authority to those who support the revolution.

TRUMP’S IRAN CEASEFIRE ROCKED WITHIN HOURS AMID REPORTED MISSILE, DRONE ATTACKS

“The streets are now covered with checkpoints,” she wrote. “Under bridges and along main roads, movement is restricted. Long traffic lines form. Young people are stopped, their phones inspected under the pretext of routine checks.”

After the announcement of the ceasefire between U.S. forces and the Iranian regime Tuesday, the author said, most of her country went to sleep that night in a “state of deep anxiety.”

“What weighs most heavily is not only the war itself, but the possibility that it may end up leaving behind a regime even more authoritarian, more repressive, and more violent,” the author notes.

She urged a ceasefire that is not “abandonment,” but peace, destabilizing the Iranian regime.

“A ceasefire that stabilizes the current order, without addressing the demands that have brought Iranians into the streets for years, risks being experienced not as peace, but as abandonment,” the author wrote.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Negotiations between Iran and the U.S. are scheduled to begin Friday in Pakistan.

“We wait, and we continue, in whatever ways possible, to insist that light will eventually overcome this darkness,” she concluded.

The Australian notes the author remains anonymous for “fear of retribution.”

US President Donald Trump has said allies must find a solution within days to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Any operation would likely involve deploying military vessels and personnel to the region, despite initial reluctance from European allies.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has informed key member states of Trump’s demands following talks in Washington on Thursday.

Rutte is in the US capital for a three-day visit, which included meetings at the White House with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. The conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran, as well as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, was high on the agenda.

Ahead of the visit, Trump reiterated threats to reconsider US participation in NATO, criticising European allies for rejecting his calls to contribute assets to secure the strait, which has been largely closed to international shipping by Iran.

Following the talks, Rutte said Trump was “absolutely disappointed” over the issue.

“It was a very frank, very open discussion, but also a discussion between two good friends,” Rutte said of the private meeting held without media access.

On Thursday, Rutte reportedly contacted European capitals from Washington to relay Trump’s insistence that allies produce a plan to reopen the strait.

A NATO spokesperson confirmed to Euronews: “The Secretary General is in contact with allies about his discussions in Washington. It’s clear that the United States expects concrete commitments and action to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Trump also criticised allies on social media, saying “none of these people, including our own, very disappointing NATO, understood anything unless they have pressure placed upon them.”

Last week, more than 40 countries joined a coalition aimed at securing free passage through the strait, a critical shipping route for global energy supplies, once the most intense phase of the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran ends.

Governments including the UK, Germany, Finland, Norway, France and Spain had initially said they would not deploy troops or naval forces, arguing they were not responsible for an offensive operation in Iran.

However, Trump has insisted he wants a plan within days, regardless of ongoing instability.

A source close to the discussions told Euronews it would be in the interest of NATO countries to respond positively, or risk wider consequences for collective security.

“What this all means for NATO is effectively up to the nations of NATO,” the source said. “Will they act, and if they do, will they act constructively towards their and the Alliance’s collective security and meet their obligations?”

NATO allies are now holding accelerated discussions on how to reopen the strait in the most practical and efficient way. Sources said Trump has told Rutte a plan must be developed “within days rather than weeks”.

“They are going to have to come up with some form of physical presence in the region,” the source said.

“As we know, this piece of geography is water-based, so this will likely involve some form of naval vessels and personnel to operate them,” they added.

Allies could also potentially rely on intelligence support and demining operations, sources told Euronews.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A man imprisoned for nearly 30 years before being exonerated won a landmark election in New Orleans promising to fix a judicial system that failed him. Now, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and the GOP-controlled Legislature are racing to eliminate his job before he can be sworn in.

Calvin Duncan won 68% of the vote last November to become the Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court after pledging to reform the justice system based on his own experience fighting to access court records while in maximum security prison.

Duncan rebuilt his life, in part by running for and winning the clerk’s office. But Louisiana Senate Republicans on Wednesday voted to scrap Duncan’s new job as part of a broader GOP effort to streamline the judiciary in New Orleans, a Democratic hub with a predominantly Black electorate. The state Legislature is largely Republican and white, and the deeply red state has been leading efforts to gut the Voting Rights Act.

Duncan’s swearing in is scheduled for May 4.

He told The Associated Press he believes he’s being retaliated against by Louisiana officials who have long denied his innocence, even though his name is listed on the National Registry of Exonerations.

Republicans say it isn’t personal and defend the effort as a step toward government efficiency.

“The citizens of New Orleans overwhelmingly said: ‘I want to give this person a chance, he can make a difference,’” Duncan, a Democrat, told lawmakers during a March committee hearing. “What this bill does, it says: ‘Thank you but you wasted your time.’ It disenfranchises everybody.”

The wrongful conviction that landed Duncan in prison

The case started with the 1981 murder of 23-year-old David Yeager and landed Duncan in prison for more than 28 years. In 2011, on the eve of a hearing to consider new evidence, prosecutors offered to reduce Duncan’s sentence to time served if he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and armed robbery. Duncan was freed, but he didn’t give up trying to clear his name.

Finally, in 2021, a judge agreed that he had been unjustly convicted and vacated Duncan’s sentence altogether.

As state attorney general in 2023, Landry opposed Duncan’s petition to be compensated for his wrongful conviction. Duncan withdrew the petition after Landry’s successor, Liz Murrill, threatened to go after Duncan’s law license in the state. When Duncan ran for clerk, Murrill vowed to take “further action” against him if he did not stop calling himself “exonerated.”

Landry and Murrill have pointed to Duncan having accepted the 2011 plea deal for manslaughter and armed robbery.

“The Attorney General made it clear during the election that if I continued to accurately speak about my innocence and exoneration that I would face consequences from her office,” Duncan told The Associated Press. “We are seeing those consequences today as she and the Governor try to undo the will of 68% of voters in New Orleans.”

Murrill said she had “no involvement” in the move to eliminate the office.

Republicans say the current system needs an overhaul

Landry told the AP that eliminating Duncan’s elected office was about improving “government efficiency” and “cleaning up a system in Orleans Parish that has been plagued by dysfunction and corruption for years.”

Proponents of consolidating the criminal clerk of court with the civil clerk of court say the offices are combined in other parishes. Terminating the criminal clerk of court position would save the state an estimated $27,300, according to the office of the legislative auditor, which added that the costs of combining clerks’ offices were “unknown.”

The bill’s Republican author, Sen. Jay Morris, who represents a district in north Louisiana, acknowledged that once Duncan’s elected position is eliminated, the civil clerk of court might struggle to handle the influx of cases. The solution, he says, is to “hire someone.”

Other New Orleans elected judicial officials whose jobs may be eliminated in the future would be allowed to serve out their terms, but not Duncan.

Morris told lawmakers that the goal is to pass the law in time to prevent Duncan from taking office before the start of his four-year term.

The bill, on track to be passed by the GOP-controlled House and approved by Landry, would immediately go into effect with the governor’s signature.

“I have never seen something so barbaric,” Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat representing New Orleans said on the Senate floor. “I understand politics and I know you all are going to vote how you are going to vote. But just know, when we are all done here, history has a record.”

Duncan, 62, was the driving force behind a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended nonunanimous jury convictions. He has also founded a nonprofit dedicated to expanding incarcerated people’s access to the court system. He has said being elected to the clerk’s office was the culmination of his life’s work.

___

Cline reported from Baton Rouge.

___

Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.