SAN ANTONIO – Hours after the U.S. and Israel launched joint military strikes against Iran on Saturday morning, the impact on Texas remains unclear.
Experts and local groups said the fallout from the attack could affect energy markets and supply chains.
“I think we don’t know at this point,” said Amy Austin Holmes, a professor at Texas A&M University’s Bush School of Government in Washington, when asked what the strikes could mean for Texans.
Abbott said he has directed the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas National Guard to ramp up surveillance and patrols at key sites, including energy facilities, ports and the southern border.
Holmes said President Donald Trump’s public case for intervention draws on a long list of grievances dating back to Iran’s 1979 revolution.
“In his eight-minute speech that he gave, President Trump listed really a litany of historical grievances against Iran,” Holmes said, “going all the way back to the 1979 revolution that brought the Ayatollahs essentially to power.”
Holmes said recent attacks by Iranian proxies factor into U.S. calculations and public support for involvement.
“The October 7 Hamas attack against Israel, for example, being one of the more recent attacks by Iranian proxies in the region,” Holmes said, “and that’s why he feels, you know, that the United States needs to get involved.”
“But there are also people who are questioning why he is doing this,” Holmes said, “including some of his own base.”
Holmes cautioned that it remains uncertain whether the campaign will be limited to airstrikes or expand into a larger ground operation.
“President Trump has talked about regime change, but how would that actually take place?” Holmes said. “We don’t know if this would lead to boots on the ground, if this will just be a matter of airstrikes that we’ve seen until now. It’s a big question mark.”
The Mehr Foundation, which describes itself as a San Antonio-area group that raises awareness of Persian culture, said the removal of some Iranian leadership figures does not mean the country is ready for systemic change.
“Khamenei was just one individual. The Islamic regime has multiple branches,” Mehr Foundation President Mojgan Panah said. “The Iranian people do not have all they need to overthrow and create a regime change. I hope that the Trump administration has an action plan for what the next steps look like.”
Panah said she and others are thankful to the Trump administration and are praying for U.S. service members who may see combat.
Dozens of protesters gathered at San Antonio City Hall to voice opposition to the strikes, calling the action illegal and motivated by oil and imperialism rather than democracy, according to organizers.
“We’re here to say we’re not in support of this. The American people do not support this,” one protestor told KSAT. “It’s very clear, this is not about liberty and democracy and personal freedoms. It’s about imperialism and hegemony and really about oil.”
Experts said American consumers could see economic impacts if the conflict escalates.
Holmes said oil prices and shipping costs are vulnerable to disruptions in the Middle East, which could trickle down to gasoline prices and the cost of goods.
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