War on Iran: Why Trump blinked first

The US president is measuring this conflict not in lives, but in oil prices and market rhythms

Soumaya Ghannoushi

President Donald Trump is pictured in Washington on 20 March 2026 (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

For 48 hours, the world was told to brace for fire.

A deadline was drawn, an ultimatum delivered. Power plants would be obliterated, infrastructure shattered, a nation plunged deeper into war. The language was absolute. The threat was theatrical. The message was clear: comply or be crushed.

And then, just as suddenly, it dissolved. No strikes, no decisive escalation, no fulfilment of the threat that had been so loudly proclaimed.

Because this time, the bluff was called.

Iran did not flinch. It did not plead for time or scramble for compromise. It answered with defiance and, more importantly, with clarity. Any attack would not remain contained. It would not be surgical or neat; it would spill across the entire region. 

The Gulf would not be spared. Energy corridors would not be protected. The war would not be localised. It would be systemic.

And faced with that reality, US President Donald Trump blinked first - but not for the reasons he would like the world to believe.

It was not out of concern for Gulf societies already absorbing missile strikes, nor for the tens of billions of dollars in damage already inflicted on regional economies, nor out of any moral hesitation about widening a war that has consumed countless lives and destabilised an entire region.

Trump blinked for one reason only: the markets.

Psychological operation 

This has been the hidden rhythm of the war from the very beginning: escalation when the markets close, de-escalation before they reopen. Threats issued into the silence of the weekend, only to be softened by Monday morning calm.

Iranian observers understood it early. They named it for what it was: a psychological operation with an economic core.

Every spike in rhetoric has been aligned not with battlefield necessity, but with trading hours; every retreat calibrated not to diplomacy, but to volatility.

And in that pattern lies the truth: this war, for Trump, is not measured in lives, but in price charts. Oil, markets, optics - that is the axis on which his decisions turn.

Trump did not step back when the Gulf burned. He stepped back when the markets trembled

The evidence is not abstract. It is painfully concrete.

For more than three weeks, Gulf societies have been under fire. Missiles have struck key sites. Economies have bled. Entire sectors have absorbed losses measured in the tens of billions of dollars. 

Warnings were issued - clear, direct, urgent. Striking Iran’s energy infrastructure, Gulf officials cautioned, would invite retaliation against their own.

They were ignored. The strikes went ahead, and the consequences followed.

And still, nothing changed in Washington. No recalibration, no restraint, no sudden concern for regional stability.

But when the threat turned inward, and the spectre of market instability, of oil shocks, of financial turbulence loomed - then suddenly, there was hesitation. There was a pause, and talk of delay.

Trump did not step back when the Gulf burned. He stepped back when the markets trembled. In his calculus, entire societies weigh less than a single barrel of crude.

Narrative management 

This is why the latest message matters - not because of what it claims, but because of what it reveals.

There are no real negotiations. There are mediators: frantic, overextended, desperate to contain a war spiralling out of control. There are messages passed through intermediaries: signals, proposals, openings.

But there is no agreement. Trump’s claims of imminent deals are not diplomacy. They are narrative management, a way to mask retreat as strategy, hesitation as statesmanship.

The significance is simpler, and far more consequential: Trump blinked.

And yet, this is not the end. Because if there is one constant in this war, it is deception.

What we are witnessing is, in all likelihood, a manoeuvre; a pause not for peace, but for time. Time to calm the markets. Time to complete the military buildup. Time to plant an illusion in the mind of the adversary.

This is not new. It is a pattern. It is, in fact, the third time that Trump has played this game.

The first came before the 12-day war last June. The second unfolded during negotiations preceding the latest escalation. And now, once again, the same script is being rehearsed, the same performance repeated, the same deception repackaged as diplomacy.

This time, the illusion is not holding. In Iranian media, in official statements, and in the language of its military leadership and political establishment, there is no sign of belief in this latest performance. 

There are no signs of trust or hesitation. Iran is not buying it.

Machinery of war

Iran seems to understand the nature of this administration - one driven by a profane trinity of hubris, greed and deception.

This is the real trouble for Trump: he cannot keep using the same trick and expect it to work. As the Arab proverb goes, a believer is not bitten from the same hole twice.

And all the signs point in the opposite direction. A delay conveniently extending into the weekend shields markets from immediate shock, amid a continued military buildup that contradicts every word of restraint. Tens of thousands of troops are already positioned across the region. There are carrier strike groups, expeditionary units, air assets, rapid-response forces placed on high alert, and paratrooper units mobilised.

The machinery of war is not slowing. It is expanding. Contingency plans are circulating for operations that go far beyond rhetoric: securing the Strait of Hormuz, striking coastal infrastructure, even seizing critical energy nodes.

And even as the language of pause and delay is deployed, the reality on the ground tells a different story.

Strikes have continued against Iranian energy infrastructure, including reported attacks on facilities in Isfahan and the Khorramshahr region, underscoring that the plan remains in motion despite claims of restraint.

This is not de-escalation. It is staging. And behind it all stands a coalition that has no interest in peace.

Israel is eager to sustain the war. Its political allies in Washington, such as Senator Lindsey Graham, press relentlessly for escalation. Networks of influence that do not see this conflict as a risk, but as an opportunity, continue to push and lobby. Because for them, the war is not a danger to be contained. It is a project to be completed.

Dangerous moment

Iran, for its part, has drawn its own conclusions. It does not trust the signals coming from Washington. It does not accept the narrative of imminent agreement. 

And more importantly, it has discovered leverage it did not fully wield before: the Strait of Hormuz. Not as a threat in the abstract, but as a strategic card - central, decisive and unavoidable. One through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil flows, a narrow passage capable of shaking the entire global economy at will.

And here lies the deeper shift. Iran has realised that Hormuz is more powerful than any nuclear weapon it could have built - because a bomb threatens destruction; Hormuz threatens the system itself.

Where once negotiations revolved around nuclear limits and sanctions relief, they now orbit something far more immediate: the flow of global energy itself.

In a war defined by illusion, timing and calculation, the most dangerous moment is not when threats are made, but when they are quietly withdrawn, only to return under a different name

And Iran has made its position unmistakably clear. The war will continue until all damages are compensated, all sanctions are lifted, and guarantees are secured that the US will not interfere in Iran’s affairs. Until then, the pressure will continue.

And here lies the final, uncomfortable truth for Tel Aviv and Washington: this war, intended to weaken Iran, has in crucial ways strengthened it.

What was meant to isolate Iran has instead made it more resilient and economically flexible. Sanctions have not tightened; they have eroded. Oil production has increased. Prices have risen. New payment channels have emerged, bypassing traditional chokepoints.

The longer the war continues, the less incentive Iran has to return to the status quo that existed before it began.

So what we are witnessing is not a resolution. It is a pause - fragile, tactical and deceptive. It is a moment in which one side recalibrates, another consolidates, and all prepare for what may come next.

Trump has blinked. But blinking is not surrender. And in a war defined by illusion, timing and calculation, the most dangerous moment is not when threats are made, but when they are quietly withdrawn, only to return under a different name.

The five-day window is not peace. It is the space between escalations. And if the pattern holds, what follows will not be diplomacy, but something far more costly - for the region, for the markets, and for the world.

Soumaya Ghannoushi is a British Tunisian writer and expert in Middle East politics. Her journalistic work has appeared in The Guardian, The Independent, Corriere della Sera, aljazeera.net and Al Quds. A selection of her writings may be found at: soumayaghannoushi.com and she tweets @SMGhannoushi.

GCC Regimes and the End of US-Israel Protection Myth

Crescent International

For decades, western-backed GCC dictatorships have sold a primitive geopolitical narrative to their populations and to the wider Muslim world: align with the US, move closer to Israel, and you will get security, stability, and prosperity.

It was a line that was assiduously peddled after the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Iran and its popularly-backed Islamic state system became the boogeyman, and subjugation to the US and Israel was presented as the supposed solution.

This policy has now completely collapsed.

Despite deep military, political, and economic ties, the GCC regimes have found themselves helpless against Iran, a country that has been under severe economic sanctions for decades.

Stability, which was presented as the natural outcome of being subservient to western regimes and promoted as a master plan of foreign policy, collapsed in less than a week.

Islamic Iran continues to pound American and Israeli assets across the entire GCC, while the local dictatorships, equipped with multibillion-dollar western weapons, are unable to stop Iran.

The biggest impact is not military, but political.

It is faced by the GCC regimes, the US, and Israel.

If the US and Israel are not able to stop Iran from pummelling them directly, what is the point of regional regimes in West Asia allying themselves with the terrible duo?

This question strikes at the very foundation of the long-standing strategic doctrine.

The central justification for alignment was not merely political convenience, but the promise of guaranteed security under a superior military umbrella.

If that guarantee is exposed as limited, conditional, or ineffective in moments of real escalation, then the rationale for dependency begins to erode.

In such a scenario, alliance no longer appears as a source of strength, but as a liability that invites risk without ensuring protection.

This shifts the strategic calculus for regional western-backed regimes, forcing a reassessment of reliance on their traditional “protectors”.

Apart from this aspect, the “day after” question poses an even bigger problem.

The GCC regimes have little else to offer beyond the subjugation framework, which has now been severely undermined.

What comes next is likely to be far more alarming for American vassals in the region than the current military phase of the ongoing regional war.

As this interval of the military phase of the war subsides, the “what now” question in the realm of foreign policy for GCC regimes will become a painful reckoning with reality.

Considering the vast disconnect between regional realities and the wider population in the Arab world, the GCC regimes will have to reinvent a new foreign policy framework that appeases the “street” more.

This will inadvertently put the GCC regimes on a collision course with western regimes and Israel.

In realistic terms, the GCC regimes have two options.

First, they could lean more towards Türkiye and package the new foreign policy framework as a ‘Sunni Muslim’ bloc.

This approach, however, will lack coherence and durability, as Ankara will seek to dominate the GCC regimes—a setup they will not accept.

The GCC regimes barely get along with each other, and bringing Türkiye into the mix will only complicate matters further.

The second option is to tilt more towards a “neutral” position by asking China and Russia to mediate with Islamic Iran and create more favorable conditions for Iran in the region by degrading western and Israeli presence in the GCC countries.

In return, Iran, China, and Russia would guarantee that in the next phase of the regional war, the GCC regimes will not be touched.

It is yet to be seen which of these approaches, if any, the GCC regimes will take, but what is certain is that Iran will no longer allow the GCC regimes to provide their territories to the US and Israel to be used as military, economic, and intelligence platforms against Islamic Iran.

This position is increasingly reinforced by recent developments, where Iran has demonstrated a willingness to directly target assets and infrastructure linked to US presence across the GCC, signaling a shift toward imposing clear costs for being American and Israeli vassal regimes.

GCCIranDonald TrumpGeopolitics

Lawyer for Quds Committee issues “cease and Desist” notice to Ontario Premier

Crescent International

Rabbis of the Neturei Karta Orthodox Jewish Community at this year's Al-Quds Day Rally in Toronto on March 14, 2026. They have regularly attended such rallies, standing shoulder to shoulder with Imams and other Mulsims. DougFord, please note! (Photo: Crescent International)

The lawyer for Al-Quds Committee, Stephen Ellis has issued a “cease and desist” notice to Ontario premier Doug Ford.

The premier slandered and issued libelous statements on social media against the annual Quds Day rally.

He has repeated pro-Israeli groups’ hateful characterization of Al-Quds rally speakers and participants.

These include but are not limited to calling the Quds Day rally “anti-semitic”, spreading hatred and calling for violence.

Lawyer Stephen Ellis gave Ford seven days from the date of notice (March 18) to delete the hateful messages and apologise to the Quds Committee.

Failure to do so would result in legal action against Ford.

As part of Ford’s attempt to shut down this year’s Quds Day rally, he instructed the Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey to seek a court injunction.

This came about after a number of pro-Israeli groups led by the Centre for Israel Jewish Affairs (CIJA)—readers will note that there is nothing Canadian about this organization, it reflects the interests of a foreign entity—called for shutting down the annual Quds Day rally.

Prior to Ford instructing his attorney general to seek a court injunction, the Israeli ambassador Iddo Moed and the zionist entity’s consul general in Toronto had also met the Ontario premier.

They pressured Ford to shut down the rally.

The case went before Justice Robert Senta of the Ontario Superior Court.

Justice Senta dismissed the injunction saying that Canadians can express their opinions even if they go contrary to others’ views.

This is guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

He also said the police did not need a court injunction to stop a rally.

If the Toronto police felt the Quds Day rally was involved in illegal activities, they had the powers to stop it.

The Quds Day Committee has always worked with the Toronto police to ensure that the rally is peaceful and that no racist or hateful slogans are raised.

Quds Day rallies have been held in Toronto since 1980.

Not once have the rally participants indulged in any disruptive activity or targeted any particular community despite hateful slogans raised by the zionists.

Instead, it has invited Jewish and Christian speakers to address the rally.

One of the popular slogans at the Quds Day rally is, “Judaism Yes, zionism No”.

It is the repudiation of zionism that irks the pro-Israeli groups as well as politicians like Ford to go ballistic.

Since October 2023, there have been weekly rallies in support of the Palestinians suffering zionist-perpetrated genocide.

The Quds Day rallies have also become more energetic and grown in size much to the chagrin and discomfort of the Jewish supremacists.

The illegal US-Israel war on Iran has also aroused much anger.

Al Quds Day rallies are not the only annual event.

In 2005, the World Council of Churches called for annual commemorations of the Palestinians’ plight.

The following year, the United Church of Canada unanimously passed a resolution calling for its congregations to hold an annual week of focus on the Palestinian situation.

Toronto’s Trinity St. Paul United Church, for example, has continued this tradition.

Ford needs to answer some questions.

1: Has he ever attended a Quds Day rally to hear what the speakers are saying, what slogans are raised or what banners are carried?

2: Has Ford uttered a single word of condemnation against the zionist-perpetrated genocide of Palestinians?

3: Does he believe in International Law?

4: Does Ford accept that Canadian Charter Rights extend to Muslim Canadians as well?

5: Is he the premier of a select group of people or he represents all Ontarians?

His thinly-veiled anti-Muslim comments have fuelled Islamophobia resulting in increased attacks on Muslims.

During Ramadan, members of the Toronto Islamic Centre on Bloor Street, west of Yonge Street were attacked.

Muslims are the only community whose members have been shot, stabbed or killed.

The horrific massacre at the Quebec City Islamic Centre on January 29, 2017 stands out as a prime example.

Six Muslims were shot dead and 20 others seriously injured while offering nightly prayers.

In September 2020, a caretaker outside the International Muslims Organization in Etobicoke (West Toronto) had his throat slit and killed.

An even more horrific slaughter took place in June 2021 when three generations of Muslims were killed in London, Ontario.

The family, comprising a grandmother, son, daughter-in-law and a daughter were out for evening walk when they were run over repeatedly by a pick up truck.

They were crushed to death and their bodies badly mangled.

Only the nine-year-old son survived.

Ford’s racist comments fuel Islamophobia and lead to such attacks on Muslims.

The pro-zionist cabal is also part of the same diabolical plot.

Quds Day RallyDoug FordCanadian zionistsToronto (Canada)Islamophobiazionist terrorism

'Merkava massacre': Hezbollah destroys nearly 100 Israeli tanks—$6mn each—in weeks

Hezbollah fighters have in the past few weeks destroyed Merkava tanks on a daily basis.

Hezbollah resistance fighters destroyed at least 21 Israeli military Merkava tanks across southern Lebanon and northern occupied Palestine over 24 hours on Wednesday, in what is being described as a new "Merkava massacre."

By Thursday morning, the group reported achieving direct hits on at least 20 more Merkava tanks, bringing the total number of Merkava tanks taken out since March 2 to at least 73.

On Thursday, dozens more Merkava tanks were successfully targeted and destroyed by Hezbollah fighters, taking the total number close to 100, as per informed sources.

As per details released by the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, the latest round of strikes on Thursday targeted Merkava tanks across multiple locations.

In Debel, three tanks were struck with guided missiles. In Al-Qantara, strikes hit Merkava tanks near the technical school, the vocational school, the reservoir, and the water tank, while three more were struck using attack drones.

In Taybeh, nearly a dozen Merkava tanks were hit with guided missiles. In Deir Siryan, four tanks were struck near the pond, and another was hit on the Taybeh-Al-Qantara road.

At the time of filing this report, the attacks were underway at multiple locations.

Many military pundits have described it as "Merkava massacre," a term that traces back to a similar operation during the 2006 war, when a small squad of Hezbollah fighters, reportedly just three men, destroyed at least 25 Merkava tanks and killed 34 Israeli occupation soldiers before they were forced to retreat from the area.

Military analysts also point to the stark economic disparity between the two sides' arsenals.

The guided missiles Hezbollah deployed to target these tanks cost a few thousand dollars each, a mere fraction of the cost of the Merkava tanks. Each Merkava takes up to two years to produce and carries a price tag of approximately $6 million, according to reports.

The Lebanese resistance group's latest operation, which started earlier this month, came after more than a year of strategic patience during which the Israeli occupation continues to attack villages and towns in southern Lebanon in blatant breach of the ceasefire.

On Wednesday, the Lebanese movement carried out a record 87 operations against the Israeli military sites in the occupied territories, using both missiles and drones.

Iran urges UN Security Council to condemn US-Israeli assassination plots against senior officials

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf (right) and Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi

Iran has formally alerted the United Nations to media reports revealing treacherous US and Israeli plans to assassinate high-ranking Iranian officials, including Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, describing the threats as a clear example of state terrorism and a grave violation of international law.

In an official letter on Thursday addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the President of the Security Council, Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN, Amir Saeed Iravani, expressed deep concern over the reported assassination plots.

“I draw the immediate attention of Your Excellency and the members of the Security Council to the reports published in the media,” Iravani stated.

“These reports indicate that the United States and the Israeli regime have identified and designated high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Mr. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, as assassination targets. The reports describe any suspension of such plans as merely temporary.”

The ambassador emphasized that the reports point to an operational framework aimed at assassinating Iran’s highest political officials. This criminal policy has been systematically implemented since the start of the unprovoked US-Israeli aggression against Iran on February 28, which began with the assassination of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution and several other senior officials.

“Such a policy clearly indicates a serious violation of the peremptory rules of international law. The conditional nature of the alleged ‘suspension’ also confirms that the threat remains real, deliberate, and ongoing,” Iravani warned.

He added that these threats are the products of “criminal mindsets” that have openly called the “rules of engagement” “foolish.”

The same forces, working with the terrorists ruling Tel Aviv, have deliberately bombed and killed hundreds of students, targeted hospitals, destroyed cultural heritage sites, and committed other heinous crimes in an open campaign of state terrorism.

“The promotion of the term ‘kill lists’ should be seen as another manifestation of the same terrorist acts that initiated a criminal war against Iran and have so far resulted in the deaths of more than three thousand civilians,” the letter stressed.

Iravani underlined that a premeditated policy of assassinating high-ranking officials of a sovereign UN member state constitutes a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, as well as gross breaches of international human rights law — including the right to life — and international humanitarian law.

He further recalled that officials at the level of Foreign Minister enjoy complete personal immunity under customary international law, a principle repeatedly affirmed by the International Court of Justice.

Any attack on their lives would undermine the foundations of peaceful international relations. Iran firmly condemns any attempt to normalize the assassination of high-ranking government officials, describing it as a destructive and biased policy that represents state terrorism, sets a dangerous precedent, and poses a serious threat to international peace and security.

Iran to UN: KSA, Qatar, Kuwait and UAE must halt use of their territory for US-Israeli aggression against Iran

In separate letters, Iravani issued strong protests to the United Nations against Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates for allowing their territory and airspace to be used by the United States and the Israeli regime to carry out attacks on Iranian soil.

Iran’s ambassador firmly renewed Tehran’s objection to these illegal and hostile actions by the four Persian Gulf states.

The Iranian ambassador stressed that states bear clear international responsibility when they make their territory available for acts of aggression and armed attacks against a third sovereign country.

“Considering the international responsibility of states arising from making their territory available for committing acts of aggression and carrying out armed attacks against the territory of a third state, the Islamic Republic of Iran has expressed its strong and firm protest against the above-mentioned illegal actions,” Iravani stated in the letters.

He called on the kingdoms of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates to immediately observe the principles of good neighborliness and prevent any further use of their territory against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The senior Iranian diplomat also underlined that while the Islamic Republic continues to uphold the principle of good neighborliness and fully respects the sovereignty of these states, it reserves its legitimate right to take all necessary and appropriate measures — including the exercise of its inherent right of self-defense — in order to safeguard its sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence.

Iran FM: US troops using Arab civilians as human shields

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that US soldiers have abandoned their bases in the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries since the very beginning of the war, seeking shelter in civilian hotels and offices while turning local populations into human shields.

In a post on X on Thursday, Araghchi stated: “From outset of this war, U.S. soldiers fled military bases in GCC to hide in hotels and offices. They use GCC citizens as human shield.”

Araghchi drew a comparison to practices inside the United States, noting that American hotels routinely deny bookings to military officers whose presence could endanger civilian guests.

“Hotels in U.S. deny bookings to officers who may endanger customers. GCC hotels should do same,” the top Iranian diplomat urged.

Despite Washington’s aggressive posturing and a war of aggression on Iranian territory that began on February 28 — which targeted civilian sites including schools, hospitals, and sports facilities — American troops have shown little resolve to defend their forward positions.

Instead, they have retreated into densely populated civilian areas, recklessly exposing innocent Arab citizens to potential retaliatory actions.

Iran’s firm and precise response to the unprovoked US-Israeli aggression has repeatedly demonstrated the strength and determination of the Islamic Republic.

While Iranian forces continue to inflict defeats on the aggressors on multiple fronts, US commanders appear more concerned with self-preservation than with protecting their allies.

By hiding among civilians, the US not only violates basic principles of international humanitarian law but also endangers the very populations whose governments have hosted American bases and facilities long used to threaten regional stability and Iranian sovereignty.

The US and Israel launched an unprovoked war of aggression against Iran on February 28, assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, along with several senior officials and military commanders, as well as hundreds of civilians.

The Iranian armed forces have responded by launching almost daily missile and drone operations targeting locations in the Israeli occupied territories as well as US military bases and assets across the region.

They have also blocked the strategic Strait of Hormuz to oil and gas tankers affiliated with the adversaries and those cooperating with them.

'Wish we could offer our lives': Kashmir pours its heart in massive donation drive for Iran

By Humaira Ahad

She walked through the narrow lanes with measured steps, one hand clasping the arm of a male relative, the other clutching a small cloth bundle as though it held her very soul.

Above the winding streets of Budgam, a district in central Kashmir, the spring sun had climbed to its zenith, splashing white light against weather-beaten walls and sending shadows crawling through the labyrinthine alleyways.

A few blocks ahead, outside a modest mosque with a faded turquoise door, stood a makeshift wooden stall. Behind it, cardboard boxes lay open, with two words: For Iran.

A middle-aged woman, visually impaired but brimming with confidence, reached the stall. She untied the bundle in her hands. Inside lay a single gold ring. She gently placed it into the box and whisked away with a little prayer.

The men at the stall watched silently. One of them, a young volunteer who moments earlier had been briskly counting notes, stared at the ring. He was speechless.

"It is not charity," he said with surprise. "This is presence, a show of love for Islam, for Iran."

That simple act of charity, repeated in countless neighborhoods across the Himalayan valley of Kashmir over the past several days, has become the defining image of one of the largest and most emotionally intense public donation drives the region has witnessed.

"It is a movement born not of political organization or institutional coordination, but of grief, raw, overwhelming, and deeply personal, following the martyrdom of Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei (RA) and the imposed war on Iran by the United States and Israel," said Muhammad Arif, a Kashmir-based journalist, in his conversations with the Press TV website.

The donation drive that began as scattered gestures of solidarity quickly transformed into a mass mobilization, cutting across age, gender, and sect.

Volunteers at the locality level have coordinated precisely, organizing systematic collections of money, gold, silver, copper utensils, livestock, land deeds, and household items.

"People heard that the Iranian embassy had opened accounts for donations. After a few days, people mobilized at the mohalla (locality) level," Arif added.

Kashmir-based photojournalist Syed Shariyar, who has been documenting the drive throughout the valley, said it has been a deeply emotional experience for him.

"Yesterday was so intense. We saw people crying while sitting on the roadside. Strange… for me, it was deeply emotional," he told the Press TV website.

 "Imagine children coming out with their clay banks," he added, with a pause.

                          Copper ware being collected as part of donations.

‘I am present in today's Karbala’

In Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, Hurmat Zahra, a young woman in her early 20s, spoke about her motivation to contribute. The gold earrings she wore that day were among her most prized possessions. But she let it go – for the place and the people she holds dear.

"After the assassination of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, I am donating my jewellery for Iran," she told the Press TV website.

"I know Iran may not necessarily need this, but we are doing it for the sake of our martyred Leader, for the sake of Islam. Everyone is contributing in their own humble way."

Her voice was steady, but her composure faltered as she explained why she chose to give her earrings.

"I gave them for the sake of Hazrat Sakina (daughter of Imam Hussain (AS)), whose earrings were snatched in Karbala. I was not present in Karbala in 680 CE, but I am present in this Karbala," she stated, struggling to hold back her tears.

In Shia tradition, the moment when little Sakina’s earrings were forcibly snatched is remembered as one of the most painful episodes of that tragedy.

"That time Imam Hussain (AS) was martyred for Islam, and now Ayatollah Khamenei has also been martyred for Islam," she said in a choked voice. "These little things don’t matter to us; we are ready to sacrifice our lives for Islam."

Her words echoed a sentiment felt throughout the Kashmir valley. Most Kashmiris view the ongoing war of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran not as some distant war, but as a continuation of a struggle stretching back to the earliest years of Islam.

"In this struggle against falsehood, we want to be among the participants and not mere spectators," Zahra added.

One of the sites of the donation drive in Kashmir.

Tahira Akhtar, a mother of three from Srinagar city, donated the gold chain she had received on her wedding day, which she valued both for its emotional value and as an investment.

"My motivation to donate it is Islam. Iran is standing alone for truth against the superpowers of the world, the Yazids of today’s world," she said, referring to the despotic Omayyad ruler who confronted Imam Hussain (AS) in the desert plains of Karbala.

"This is the least we can do from our side. We can’t be there to fight, so we are showing our solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran with these small acts."

When asked if she thought of her children before donating, she replied:

"Yes, I am a mother, and I do think about my children’s future. But when it comes to Islam and the path of Allah, Mohammad (peace be upon him), and the Holy Prophet’s progeny (peace be upon them), I am even ready to sacrifice my own children for the path. Gold is the bare minimum I can do."

She spoke of what moved her most, not the news of war in the abstract, but an image:

"Whatever is happening was a driving force. But what moved and tore me apart, particularly as a mother myself, was when I saw the school bags of those girls of Minab covered in dust and blood. It shattered me," she told the Press TV website.

She was referring to images of schoolchildren martyred at an elementary school in Minab in an American-Israeli aggression, widely circulated on social media. Many pictures showed school bags strewn amid rubble after the devastating bombing that killed over 170.

"And obviously Rehbar’s (Ayatollah Khamenei) martyrdom was a big blow to our hearts," she added. "We are still not able to recover from this harsh truth."

‘We wish we could offer our lives’

Across the length and breadth of Kashmir, the martyrdom of Ayatollah Khamenei in a cowardly act of terrorism has acted as a catalyst and a unifying factor for people.

"It is his shahadat (martyrdom) that brought everyone out," Shujaat Hussain, an engineer from Srinagar, told the Press TV website.

"Rich, middle-class, poor, everyone is arriving with something. They all say the same thing: even this is not enough. We wish we could offer our lives for the Leader."

This sentiment that no material offering is sufficient and the true desire is self-sacrifice resonates across communities in the picturesque Himalayan valley.

Zeeshan Jaipuri, a poet from downtown Srinagar, said people in the valley feel helpless for not being able to do anything more than make material contributions.

"People feel guilty about the fact that they are in Kashmir and not in Iran. They say we should have also been able to get martyrdom, but we are helplessly here," he said while speaking to the Press TV website.

Volunteers reported scenes that left even journalists and activists in tears.

"I felt very emotional when I saw the way people were donating money, gold, copper utensils, carpets," Shariyar said. "I have not seen something like this."

He spoke about a Budgam village where residents live below the official poverty line. Despite their circumstances, the collective donations from that single village amounted to 15 lakh Indian rupees (around $20,000) in cash, gold worth 25 lakh rupees (around $32,000), and copper worth 10 lakh rupees (around $20,000).

In another village, a Sunni Muslim farmer with no money donated a goat. An elderly man, unable to walk, made his way to a local Imam Bargah (Hosseiniyah) to give whatever money he had for the people of Iran.

Arif, who witnessed it, said: "An elderly Sunni man from our extended family who cannot even walk properly and was carried by people went to an Imam Bargah to donate whatever money he had."

Arif also recalled an unexpectedly heartwarming moment when a child arrived with a 50-paise coin, long obsolete.

"The people at the donation center, moved by his resolve to donate, auctioned the coin, and it fetched 17,000 Indian rupees to encourage him and respect his love for Islam and Imam," he told the Press TV website.

Children with piggy banks

At one stall in Budgam, a six-year-old girl placed her pink piggy bank on the table.

"It is for Iran," she told the volunteers. Her mother stood behind her, wiping tears. "She insisted on giving it away. She said the children there need it more."

The Iranian Embassy in New Delhi highlighted similar stories on social media, noting Kashmiri children were “offering their piggy banks as gifts to Iran. God bless you.”

"I spoke to a few kids. No one actually told them to donate. They just noticed their elders and decided for themselves. It was so moving," said Jaipuri.

"I was thinking about it, about the enthusiasm of these children, the emotions we are witnessing. The answer lies in how families inculcated Aga’s (Ayatollah Khamenei’s) love. I remember when I was a kid, my cousin and I used to say salawat whenever he appeared on television. We had his pictures hung in our house."

He recalled a recent conversation with a cousin, who reminded him of how they would sit endlessly for hours and talk about him. 

"Childish, deep conversations, you know. So basically, the culture at home triggered those conversations. I think if I go back to that age, this is how I’ll react, like these children."

He recalled a moment that, for him, seemed to crystallize everything.

"I saw a child with his toy sword. He wanted to kill Trump with it," referencing the US president who, in collaboration with Israel, ordered the unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Iran in the middle of indirect nuclear talks, assassinating the  Leader of the Islamic Revolution, many high-ranking officials and thousands of civilians.

‘Not a donation, gift for Iran’s stand’

Srinagar-based journalist Sajid Rasool recounted an encounter on his social media page.

"I gave a lift to a woman on her way to donate jewellery," he wrote. "She said it was not a donation but a reward for Iran’s stand for truth and its resistance to US and Israeli hegemony. Her awareness was inspiring. Iran will prevail, InshaAllah."

Irfan Ali, a biotechnologist, said he was "humbled to see the spirit of giving" in his village.

"Since 8 AM, locals have already raised over 75 lakhs for the Iranian cause through crowdfunding and the day is still long. I wouldn’t be surprised if it reaches close to 3 crores. Truly inspiring," he wrote on his social media page.

Entrepreneur Owais Ali Bhat posted: "People are giving gold, cash, transferring into given accounts. Today huge collection from the masjid I went for Eid namaz. Iran has our full support in whatever capacity they want us to contribute."

Donations go beyond cash. A Kashmiri man donated his vehicle worth $22,500. Videos circulating online show people pledging to donate cars and motorbikes to fund the drive.

In one instance, a woman whose husband had already donated to the campaign returned home and gave her personal belongings as well.

"Her husband did donate," a volunteer said. "But she was not satisfied. She wanted to give away her personal belongings as well, so she donated her favorite bangles."

Collections across districts reportedly have exceeded 500 crores Indian rupees (approximately 60 million US dollars), Hussain said, with organizers noting the actual figure is likely much higher due to discreet cash contributions and difficulty in tracking physical assets.

All sectarian curtains have been removed

Observers note that the campaign has transcended sectarian lines, with members of both Shia and Sunni communities contributing side by side for the noble cause. 

"I saw a video where a young Sunni bhai (brother) actually donated his bike," Jaipuri said. "Even in my locality, many Sunnis showed up at the donation site."

Arif offered a broader assessment: "Sunnis are contributing as much as Shias are. It is a miracle of the martyrdom of Imam Khamenei. All the sectarian curtains have been removed. People can see the difference between truth and falsehood."

As per eye witness accounts, Sunnis across the valley donated gold, copperware, motorcycles, and cash alongside Shia neighbors. For many, this unity was among the most profound outcomes.

"I have always thought of Kashmiri as an identity," Jaipuri reflected. "I finally resolved that they are people of love, and can go to any extent when in love."

                            Kashmiris donating gold jewellery, money and copper ware for Iran.

Historical bond and revolutionary spirit

Agha Syed Mohammad Hadi, a well-known religious scholar and president of the Anjuman-e-Sharie Shiayan, one of Kashmir’s oldest socio-religious organizations, said the scale of this moment cannot be explained by a single factor.

What is unfolding, he noted, is the convergence of history, faith, and a long memory of shared struggle between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Kashmir.

He described Kashmir’s relationship with Iran as one rooted in religion, culture, and civilizational exchange, a bond visible in everything from theology and scholarship to art, literature, and the rhythms of public life.

The revolutionary interpretation of Islam that shaped modern Iran, he stressed, has long resonated with Kashmiri society, which carries its own deep-seated tradition of resistance and moral defiance.

"Kashmir, having endured pain for many years, can naturally feel the pain of the Iranian nation. This sense of shared suffering has now turned into a sense of responsibility. The people of Kashmir feel that the time has come to repay, even in part, the efforts Iranians have made, whether as missionaries, artists, or cultural figures in shaping Kashmiri identity," he told the Press TV website.

"Driven by this sense of responsibility, they have seized the moment and now wish to give whatever they have in return."

He framed these donations as a way for ordinary people in faraway Kashmir to assert where they stand in the moral geography of the moment, on “the right side of history,” in a world where silence itself can feel like complicity.

Imam Hussain’s (AS) legacy

The teachings of Imam Hussain — sacrifice, justice, and the refusal to bow before oppression — have always run deep in Kashmiri culture. They are carried through sermons, poetry, mourning, and intergenerational memory.

Observers note that for many, the current wave of giving is simply in line with the values moving from remembrance into action. Agha Hadi described this shift as a kind of moral calculus shaped by the profound and everlasting lessons of Ashura.

“If people cannot offer their lives for the truth, he said, then they believe they must offer their wealth, and so they do. Yet even with this outpouring,” he noted, “Kashmiris still see themselves as indebted to the Hussaini tradition, not fulfilling it.”

On the ground, the echoes of Karbala appear in striking scenes — a young girl nudging her piggy bank across a table, an old woman walking with difficulty to place her gold earrings among the donations.

“These collective gestures signal that Kashmiris do not view themselves as observers of a distant war, but as direct participants in a long historical arc, one that links their own struggles with the sacrifices of Karbala and now, in their eyes, with the defense of Iran,” said Imran Bhat, a volunteer at one of the donation centers in uptown Srinagar.

 

It is a moral compass, not charity

For many Kashmiris, the wave of donations that has swept the valley following the Israeli-American war against Iran is not viewed as charity. It is a moral and political statement.

The unjust and illegal war on Iran is understood as part of a much older struggle for justice, autonomy, and human dignity

Hussain said the ongoing war is being interpreted as a moment of global weight, a point where ordinary people feel their small sacrifices carry a larger meaning.

He described it as a way for Kashmiris to place themselves “inside a shared human fight for dignity,” rather than standing on the sidelines.

“People feel that their support itself becomes a kind of presence in this imposed war,” he said. “And every time the enemy, what many have started calling the ‘Epstein-coalition’, suffers a setback, there’s a real sense of relief. Everyone is waiting, wishing for it to fall apart.”

The term “Epstein-coalition” has taken root in local conversations, used to describe a circle of global elites widely believed to shape US and Israeli policy. The reference comes from Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and sex trafficker whose links to Trump resurfaced through thousands of emails released by the US Justice Department.

Observers also believe that this movement cannot be brushed off as charity or pious performance. For those taking part, it is an act of moral positioning, a way of standing on the right side of history, and of turning cultural, religious, and ethical commitments into action.

Meanwhile, a video circulating widely captured this sentiment in raw form, a mobility-impaired Kashmiri girl crawling on the ground to hand over her gold earrings.

The clip spread rapidly, joined by dozens of other posts showing children, elderly women, and entire families offering whatever they could — pocket money, life savings, heirloom jewellery — to support Iran in a moment they believe carries global significance.