Trump’s approval rating is very low, but public dislike doesn’t erase Iran’s persecution of women and Christians or its support for Hamas.
President Donald Trump is leading with weak public support. A July Washington Post-Ipsos poll showed his approval at 37%, with 61% disapproving. Only 29% approved of his handling of the war with Iran. These numbers matter in a democracy, especially when military action risks American lives and greater regional conflict.
However, they do not provide a moral judgment on the Iranian government.
A president can be unpopular while still facing a real injustice. Opposing Trump should not require anyone to ignore the Iranian regime’s treatment of women, religious minorities, or dissenters. The issue is not whether people like Trump. It is whether the abuses occur—and if the response is lawful, fair, and likely to protect innocent lives.
Iran’s War Against Women
Iran’s record on human rights is not a made-up issue. A United Nations fact-finding mission found that institutional discrimination against women and girls contributed to serious violations and crimes against humanity during the crackdown after Mahsa Amini’s death.
Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, died in state custody in 2022 after being detained for allegedly breaching mandatory-veiling rules. Her death sparked the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement. Authorities responded to the protests with killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, and sexual violence.
The repression continued even after the largest protests faded. Iran has used compulsory-veiling laws, surveillance, prosecution, and economic punishment to control how women dress and behave in public. Amnesty International reported that a new veiling law proposed imprisonment, flogging, and, for some offenses, the death penalty, although its implementation was temporarily paused.
A government that sees a woman’s uncovered hair as a threat to national order is not defending culture. It is using state power to enforce compliance.
Christians Are Treated as Enemies
Iran officially recognizes some historic Christian communities, but converts from Islam and members of evangelical house churches face much greater risks.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom reported that Iranian authorities consistently targeted Christians throughout 2025. At least 143 Christians were arrested across 24 cities, with around 162 active court cases related to religious activities. Peaceful actions such as praying, baptism, communion, and celebrating Christmas were included in prosecutions, while one indictment reportedly labeled the Bible as a forbidden book.
This is not religious coexistence. It is selective tolerance for communities the state can monitor and punishment for believers it cannot control.
It is vital to distinguish between the people of Iran and its leaders. Millions of Iranians are not responsible for the regime’s abuses. Many have risked imprisonment, torture, or death to demand basic freedoms.
Iran’s Support Helped Sustain Hamas
Iran’s repression extends beyond its borders. The U.S. Treasury has documented how the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps provided Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad with hundreds of millions of dollars, weapons, and operational training. Treasury has also identified networks moving tens of millions of dollars from Iran to armed groups in Gaza.
That support matters because Hamas did not just conduct a conventional military operation on October 7, 2023. Its fighters and other armed groups crossed into Israel, attacked civilian communities and a music festival, killed about 1,200 people, and abducted around 250 hostages.
A United Nations commission found Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups guilty of war crimes, including intentionally attacking civilians, murder, torture, cruel treatment, and hostage-taking. A later UN report on hostages concluded that crimes against humanity—such as torture, enforced disappearance, and other inhumane acts—were committed against them.
UN investigators also found reasonable grounds to believe sexual violence occurred during the attacks and clear evidence that hostages experienced sexual violence while in captivity.
The suffering of civilians in Gaza does not erase these crimes. Neither do Hamas’s actions erase Palestinian suffering or Israel’s obligations under international law. Human rights lose their meaning when applied only to victims favored by one political side.
Popularity Is Not the Same as Principle
Trump’s Iran policies deserve careful scrutiny. Military force can kill civilians, empower hardliners, and create consequences that extend well beyond what leaders promise. No president should receive unchecked power just because the opposing regime is brutal.
But criticism must start with the facts. Iran’s government persecutes women, imprisons Christians, crushes dissent, and has materially supported Hamas. These facts remain true whether Trump’s approval is 60% or 37%.
The strongest stance is not blind loyalty to Trump or automatic opposition to everything he does. It is a consistent defense of human dignity: freedom for Iranian women, religious liberty for Christians and other minorities, accountability for Hamas’s crimes, protection for Palestinian civilians, and legal limits on every government using force.
Popularity changes. Principle should not.
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