Trump told Iranians to keep protesting. Then he never sent the help he promised.

As reports emerged that the United States and Iran were finalizing a memorandum of understanding, the Iran-based dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi posted a short video reacting to the news — and his continued opposition to the Islamic Republic. “Iran’s freedom has never been dependent on the will of another country,” he said. “So this path won’t reach a dead end — whether through war, an agreement or even the support of other countries.”

Defiantly, he noted: “Iran’s freedom-seekers are still alive.”

While the world waits for details of the agreement electronically signed this week, what’s sinking in for some Iranians is the realization that regardless of who occupied the White House — Democrat or Republican — during the 47 years of the Islamic Republic, Iranians who joined in cyclical anti-regime protests were, in the end, fighting alone. And today Iranians are worse off than they have been in decades.

Anti-regime Iranians have been on an emotional roller coaster for months. Protests that began in late December turned into a bloody January uprising in which security forces killed thousands of civilians. President Donald Trump urged the Iranian people on Jan. 13 to keep protesting, promising that “help is on its way.” Many of those Iranians who took to the streets — some of whom openly called for multilateral foreign intervention because they realized they couldn’t overthrow their oppressors alone — have endured countless hardships over the past 15 tumultuous weeks. Meanwhile, they watched as U.S. officials negotiated with the regime that had slaughtered fellow Iranians, including children, and even said they would be honored to meet those leaders.

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When Trump began attacking Iran on Feb. 28, he cited regime change as a core objective. In video remarks announcing military strikes, Trump told the Iranian people that “the hour of your freedom is at hand. … When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.” Some Iranians initially welcomed the foreign intervention, notably when Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed.

But even for them, the conflict quickly became a source of regret. Daily life in Iran grew difficult — especially in Tehran, where nonstop U.S. and Israeli bombardments left residents of the Iranian capital unable to sleep. In early March, Israeli strikes on oil depots plunged Tehran into darkness like a scene from an apocalyptic movie and blanketed the city in pollution and oil residue. It was a turning point for many Iranians, who saw the attack as an assault on the wealth of the Iranian people rather than on legitimate military targets.

As the conflict continued, Iran’s civilian infrastructure has been increasingly damaged — not just the accidental U.S. strike on an elementary school in Minab but also, more recently, drinking water structures. With each week, amid the chronic roar of jets and drones buzzing overhead, reality set in: This wasn’t the surgical campaign some Iranians had hoped for, nor the brief assault that Trump promised. An estimated 1,700 civilians have been killed, according to the U.S.-based group Human Rights Activists in Iran.

The economic consequences for Iranians have also been severe. The conflict is estimated to have cost at least one million Iranian jobs, with 20% of workforce losses tied to the state-imposed internet shutdown — the longest global outage. Ordinary Iranians, already struggling under systemic mismanagement and corruption as well as U.S. sanctions, have felt those burdens compounded by hyperinflation that has rendered the Iranian rial effectively worthless. When internet connectivity returned recently, some posted images of their empty refrigerators.