After the killing of more than 150 schoolchildren in southern Iran, memories of a visit to Isfahan in 2018 return with painful clarity for Eugene Doyle. Beyond governments and geopolitics are ordinary families, whose children now bear the cost of escalating war.

When I heard the terrible news that the Americans and Israelis had killed over 150 children this week in an elementary school in Minab in Southern Iran it took me back to a wonderful day I spent in Isfahan in 2018. I met lots of Iranian school children and their teachers that day. They were keen to practise their English and ask lots of questions. I want to share that day with you because it was filled with hope, with promise for a better world.

My wife and I were visiting Iran, both for the second time. Right at the end of our time there we spent a day in Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan. It is a massive square that could enclose a dozen football fields. Built by Shah Abbas I in the 17th Century, during the Safavid period, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site with markets, palaces and other cultural sites framing its four sides. At one end is the magnificent Imam Mosque where a string of memorable moments happened to me. I even saw a most astonishing one-woman demonstration. 

We were just approaching the Imam Mosque when I noticed a young woman removing her head scarf. A mass of black hair fell down to her waist and then she began dancing. Rhythmically she swirled her upper body in a circular motion that sent her hair out horizontally around her. I was gob-smacked. After a minute or two she stopped and started talking to her male companion who had been photographing her. I approached.  “Is this a protest?” I asked, somewhat gormlessly. Yes, against the clothing restrictions.  

Today the courage and determination of such people has, to a degree, paid off. Those restrictions, particularly in the cities, have effectively been lightened. I have seen lots of footage of Iranian women without any head covering. I salute their courage and determination and know their struggle will continue. 

I also salute the courage and determination of the millions of Iranians who have turned out this week to support their government against the violent assault on the sovereignty of Iran by the racist, fascist genocidal Israeli state and its powerful vassal the USA. Following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, I saw remarkable footage of that same vast square in Isfahan filled to the four corners with what must have been hundreds of thousands of people. As with millions around the country, they were defying the missiles to protest the violation of their sovereignty.  

The scale of the pro-government demonstrations is virtually never shown in the western media but to understand the contested political landscape that is Iran you need to understand that inconvenient truth. Iranian politics in the western view has been reduced to a cartoon, to a Manichean world of black and white – which partly explains why westerners, most particularly the leaders, fail to grasp the fierce nationalism that has seen millions of Iranians rally round their government as their state comes under an existential threat. 

That day in 2018 in that square I chatted with pro-regime and anti-regime people; all incredibly nice and open and welcoming. Everyone was keen to discuss Iran and the wider world. There were lots of school parties and both the teachers and their students were keen to speak with us. It was an unalloyed pleasure for us. Iranians are remarkably hospitable, cultured and kind. For me, they are the finest people in the Middle East. 

That is partly why I felt sad and bitter when I watched the footage of the bombed-out Shajareh Tayyebeh girls elementary school (for 6-12 year-olds) in Minab and heard the screams of mothers calling for children whom they will never walk to school again.  

You don’t have to like the Iranian government to support the UN Charter and the insistence of the sovereign equality of nations. Nothing in the Charter says it is ok for powerful white countries to attack other countries. The west needs to bring its leaders to justice for the crime of genocide not launch yet another war on innocents.