By: Leif Bromme
U.S. troops stationed across the Middle East watched Iranian missiles plunge into U.S. airbases and nearby buildings on Feb. 28. The retaliatory attacks came just hours after Israel and the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury — a military offensive intended to assassinate Iran’s top officials and halt the country’s nuclear program.
The conflict creates an uncertain future — not only for U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East, but also for leaders, locals and U.S. citizens. It has also ignited controversy, given its sudden and unexpected beginning.
According to an article by The Annenberg Public Policy Center, the controversy is rooted in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which states that only Congress can declare war. The article shares the perspectives of several experts; some argue that Trump’s decision was rash and unconstitutional; others argue that previous presidents’ actions have set a precedent for the use of executive power in foreign intervention to maintain national security.
Among Southern Adventist University students and faculty, reactions to the controversy have been mixed.
Freshman biology major, Emma Cortes, took issue with President Trump’s decision to start hostilities without congressional approval.
“I’m not sure if it was a good move in the sense of following order and rules,” she said. “A lot of U.S. citizens and people in the army are being put at risk for this, too.”
Kawai Oskins, a freshman culinary arts major, said elements of the a war with Iran can be justified based on the importance of proactive measures to protect the nation.
“If I was on a plane and I announced to everybody that I had a bomb on the plane, would you just sit there and do nothing, or would you actually take action?” he said. “It goes the same. [Iran] can’t threaten the lives of other people without [the United States] taking action.”
Junior general studies major, Andrew Miyashiro, believes that precedent was not sufficient to warrant attacks.
“I do not think it was good for the U.S. to invade Iran,” he said. “I believe it was unconstitutional….Just because there are bad and evil leaders of nations in the world, I am not certain that we possess the moral right to go in and remove them.”
In a video address posted to Truth Social, President Trump defended his reasons for the operation. He began by describing the hostility between the United States and Iran, pointing first to the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy by Iranian college students and militants. For 444 days, 52 Americans were held hostage. Trump also spoke of the 2000 attack of the U.S.S. Cole, arguing that Iranian influence and support for militant networks contributed to instability in the Middle East region. He referenced Iran’s “imminent” nuclear threat, his concerns about the regime’s alleged sponsorship of terrorist groups and its support of anti-Western sentiments.
Concluding, Trump urged the Iranian people to take control of their government and create a more democratic society. He also emphasized the risks of war.
“My administration is taking every possible step to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel in the region,” he explained. “Even so — and I do not make this statement lightly –the Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties. That often happens in war. But we’re doing this not for now. We’re doing this for the future.”
Because of the immense human cost of armed conflict, many societies expect it should be used by world leaders only when unavoidable. In this case, some critics question whether that condition was met. Before this year, the most recent preventative mechanism against Iran’s nuclear program was the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a 2015 agreement made between the U.S., Iran and other world powers.
According to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, “[Iran] agreed to cap uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent — enough for civilian power generation but far below the 90 percent needed for weapons-grade uranium — and allow monitoring in exchange for lifting sanctions.”
The JCPOA increased Iran’s breakout time –– the time it would take to enrich enough weapons-grade uranium for a warhead — to over a year. Monitoring under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also ensured that the international community would be aware should such developments occur.
Business Standard explains that the United States exited the JCPOA in 2018, following Trump’s criticism that the deal was weak and failed to address other threats, such as alleged Iranian state-sponsored terrorism and ballistic missile programs. A stronger deal never replaced the decaying agreement, and the IAEA noted that, since the United States’ exit, Iran has ignored nuclear regulations.
“Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile has reached more than 27 times the allowable limit, with quantities enriched up to 60 percent, approaching weapons-grade levels,” the Business Standard article stated.
In the same 2024 document, the IAEA reported that Iran’s breakout time had been reduced from over a year to less than a week; in addition, diminished inspection capabilities would prevent the international community from learning about such developments easily.
Though evidence supports the claim that Iran is enriching more uranium, a report by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) suggests that President Trump’s warnings of “imminent danger” are exaggerated. Even if Tehran “should decide to pursue the capability,” the report said that they will not have access to long-range ballistic missiles until at least 2035.
Student Voices
Though the longevity of the war is difficult to predict, there have already been significant geopolitical effects. NBC News reports that Iranian threats have effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, which links Middle Eastern oil to the global market. Disruptions to crude oil shipments have already increased gas prices around the world. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the initial attacks, along with many Iranian government leaders, leaving behind a damaged regime.
According to Al Jazeera, U.S. and Israeli attacks have already had devastating effects on civilian populations. At least 1,500 people have died in Iran, including 168 schoolgirls killed in a missile strike on an elementary school on the war’s first day. 18,551 Iranians have been injured. Israeli bombings have also led to the death of 1,001 Lebanese civilians.
At the time of this article’s publication, the war has also led to the deaths of 61 Iraqis, 18 Israelis, dozens of civilians from nearby countries, and 13 U.S. soldiers. Over 200 soldiers have been injured.
Ruslan Zavricico, senior film production major, said he remains neutral on the conflict because there is no objective truth in war. Zavricico was born in Azerbaijan, which neighbors Iran to the north. He spent his early years in multiple countries, including Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, before attending high school in Turkey. His parents still serve as Adventist missionaries in Iraq, and growing up in several countries near Iran exposed him to the region’s politics and tensions in ways most Americans encounter only through news reports.
Zavricico shared his personal observations on the nuanced dynamic between different nations and people groups in the Middle East.
“I really think that it’s terrible what’s happening, but personally, I know that cultural pride and nationalism is really big in that area,” he said. “Millions and millions of [Iranians] really believe in the cause of the war. They really think that what they’re doing is right, and they need to defend themselves.”
Zavricico, an Adventist, provided the Accent with cultural and religious context from his personal experience.
“Hatred towards Israel is kind of the unifying factor,” he said. “Islam is very, very big in the Middle East, and it creates this culture around the religion…they view the world through their religion. That’s why any decisions they make may have that value to it – it kind of affects their salvation even.”
Zavricico also mentioned Operation Rising Lion: a 12-day exchange of bombings between Israel and Iran that occurred in June 2025. The Hudson Institute reports that the attacks, initiated by Israel and accompanied by later U.S. intervention, damaged missile infrastructure and neutralized early-warning systems across Iran.
“When we first moved to Iraq,” said Zavricico, “there were a lot of bombings between Iran and Israel … It usually goes on for a few days and then dies down. So, my dad kind of thinks that this is going to be the same thing. Hopefully it stops soon.”
Zavricico’s family has also grown familiar with Iranians who flee to countries like Turkey in order to avoid religious persecution and to embrace more Western values, actions that the Iranian government penalizes harshly.
“When they leave, they just leave behind their Muslim traditions and kind of embrace these more Western ideologies. Some of them are finding Christ and some of them even become Adventists and get baptized… They love freedom, and once they can escape the regime, they kind of embrace it fully.”
Though he described Iranian refugees as “eager for change,” Zavricico said that some who stay are fully supportive of the current regime, which encourages strict adherence to Islam. He acknowledged the dangerous presence of extremism in the country but believes interpersonal connections across religions is important.
“Having lived with a lot of Muslim people, I think they’re very open, they’re very intelligent and they’re very tolerant people,” he said.
Zavricico’s words describe a region shaped by faith and conflict. Byard Parks, Student Missions director, also spoke of the strange reality of the war.
“I wrote to a friend in Lebanon,” he stated. “She’s the director of an Adventist school for Syrian refugees in Beirut. Life for her is normal, but just on the other side of town, people are getting [killed].”
Parks explained that the disparity is based on religion; Israel bombs Muslim neighborhoods suspected of hosting Hezbollah (a terrorist group), while the Christian neighborhoods that house the Adventist university stay calm and predictable.
As the war enters its fourth week, much remains unclear about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the future of its government and the powerful role ideology and religion play in the conflict. Freshman biology major, Jaden Stabel, said that while the future is uncertain, he hopes the ultimate outcome benefits the people impacted.
“I think that only time will tell what the actual result will be for Iran,” he said. “However, I hope that the result will be better lives for the people of the country. I believe how ‘good’ or ‘necessary’ the move was cannot be judged this early in the process.”
