The Brief

In a sparse multi-purpose room, a handful of middle-aged Chinese American women have rolled out black yoga mats and are studying the moves of a qigong instructor gently giving instructions.

Inhale. Gather. Exhale. 

Qigong — a mind-body-spirit practice using simple, repetitive exercises — is being offered at a new center in Monterey Park with a grimly-specific mission: tending to survivors and community members after the deadliest shooting in L.A. County history took place in their city.

The Monterey Park Resiliency Center offers mindfulness and stress-relief activities like qi gong.

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Stretch through your wrists, and relax. 

Less than a mile from where the women focus on breath work, a gunman entered the Star Dance Ballroom Studio on Jan. 21 and fired on a crowd of mostly older Asian Americans celebrating the start of Lunar New Year. Eleven people died and nine others were injured.

Up until the shooting, Monterey Park was best-known for being America’s first suburban Chinatown, with a population of 62,000 that is two-thirds Asian.

Now it’s on a long list of places reeling from mass gun violence — and part of a smaller but growing network of cities that are opening federally-funded “resiliency centers” to help with recovery.

Triage, then healing 

Mass shootings are not only increasingly commonplace in the U.S. — 550 so far this year — they've grown in lethality over the past decade. Shootings in which four or more people are killed have nearly doubled.

Typically after the deadliest incidents, a crisis response team from the FBI parachutes into a community to set up a family assistance center, drawing help from local nonprofits with community ties. That was particularly key in Monterey Park with its large immigrant population. The lead nonprofit on the ground was the Chinatown Service Center, which typically provides medical and behavioral health services, but found itself helping victims’ families with burial services.

“That's really important to be able to speak the language and to understand how communities respond culturally when events like this happen,” said Kristina Rose, who heads the Office for Victims of Crime in the Department of Justice.

More and more communities have been transitioning their family assistance centers into long-term operations. Over the last decade, the Department of Justice has met the demand by awarding millions of dollars in grants to about 20 communities that want to provide ongoing legal aid, victim's advocacy and mental health counseling to survivors.

Over the last two years, resiliency centers have opened in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York. A few years earlier, a resiliency center opened in Las Vegas after the nation’s deadliest mass shooting.

An investigator works at the scene of a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California, on Jan. 22, 2023.

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When it became evident there was support for a resiliency center in Monterey Park, the Chinatown Service Center was a clear choice to operate the center, said Rose, whose office is currently working on the grant process with the nonprofit.

The MPK Hope Resiliency Center, as it is officially called, has been averaging about 80 visits a week since it fully opened in September. It’s a number that staff want to increase, given the hundreds of people they could be potentially serving along with partner organizations such as Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California and the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office.

Bringing mental health awareness

Notice how you feel, anything starting to open up. 

The qigong instructor, Dr. Sara Ptasnik is a physician at the Chinatown Service Center. She doesn’t speak Mandarin or Cantonese like her students, so the center’s case management coordinator, Janet Yu, interprets the best she can, toggling between both languages.

Offering in-language help is a priority at the Monterey Park center, but cultural competency extends beyond translating materials, according to its director Nina Loc.

“When it comes to the Asian population, it's more of the lack of awareness, lack of willingness to accept that there could be mental health issue within a family or within the culture,” said Loc who also serves as the behavioral health director at Chinatown Service Center.

The center's case management coordinator Janet Yu provides live interpreting as Dr. Sara Ptasnik teaches a qi gong class.

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Loc said the inclination for many in the community is to not seek out counseling, which research bears out. A 2018 study by the federal Office of Minority Health found Asians were 60% less likely to have received mental health treatment than white people.

The Monterey Park center offers both individual and group therapy with the understanding that it’s not for everyone, especially an older, foreign-born generation.

That’s why there’s so much emphasis on offering stress-reduction activities such as yoga, Buddhist chanting, beading, cooking or journaling.

“We have heard a lot of individuals that don't feel comfortable going out,” Loc said. “These are signs that they're affected by [the shooting]. Hopefully coming through to the center, they could learn coping skills to be more comfortable with the new norm.”

And, Loc added, they may become more receptive to trying therapy in the future.

Open “essentially forever”

The Monterey Park resiliency center is temporarily being housed inside the Sierra Vista Community Center.

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For some survivors, it may take months, if not years, to recognize they need help.

That’s the experience of staff at the resiliency center in Las Vegas. In 2017, a gunman killed 58 people and injured hundreds at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Years later, two more people died from shooting-related injuries.

Tyler Winkler, a victim right’s attorney at the center, said the five-year anniversary of the shooting last year served as a prompt for some survivors.

“That brought in a lot of folks who were like, ‘Wow, I think maybe I'm ready to see what you guys have going on,'” Winkler said.

Winkler said survivors’ trauma can stay buried for years — until it doesn’t.

A man writes a note on a 'Vegas Strong' banner on the Las Vegas Strip, after a gunman in 2017 killed 60 people at a country music festival.

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“They know lots of people were really affected by it but they don’t see it in themselves,” Winkler said. “Maybe they start noticing, ‘I’m snapping at my family more or I’m drinking more. I feel numb.'”

The center has worked with more than 10,000 people so far — survivors, first responders, their families — but estimates there are still many other people experiencing trauma who haven’t used their services. Winkler said that’s why the Vegas center is staying open for “essentially forever” — to be there for those people who need more time.

When the federal grant ended after four years, the Nevada state and Clark County government ponied up funding to keep the center open, and to extend services to other crime victims who were not part of the shooting, Winkler said.

Still, other centers have determined they've outlived their purpose and have wound down like the one in Newtown, Conn. Many of the child survivors of the 2014 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting are now graduating high school, its executive director noted.

When the world doesn’t feel safe 

Kung fu master Benson Lee spars with an assistant during a self-defense course at the Monterey Park resiliency center.

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For the staff at the center in Monterey Park, staying open long-term is the goal.

The center is being run out of several rooms provided by the city at the Sierra Vista Community Center. But staff are hoping to lease a larger, permanent home to accommodate newcomers such as Maria Liang, the former owner of the Star Ballroom Dance Studio.

Liang, an avid dancer herself, wasn’t there the night of the shooting. But her brother was overseeing the Lunar New Year event at the studio, where he was injured, along with close friends and patrons she’d known for years.

“Some died and some were injured and now I decide that I close my business,” Liang said.

Liang visited the center this month to take a class for the first time. She followed the self-defense moves of kung fu instructor Benson Lee with ease. “It’s like dancing,” she explained.

Benson Lee, a kung fu master, teaches self-defense moves to Maria Liang, the former owner of the Star Dance Ballroom Studio at the Monterey Park Resiliency Center.

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Liang, switching to Mandarin, said she tried the class because the world doesn’t feel safe and she wanted to learn better awareness and ways to protect herself.

She plans to return; another class has piqued her interest. Qigong, she said brightly, is good for your body.

A place of their own

Liang had been handed a calendar of activities the night before when she attended a private event for survivors held at the community center.

Hung in the lobby were blue paper hearts honoring the shooting victims. They had been displayed outside Monterey Park City Hall on signposts for months before being moved to their permanent home with the center.

The lobby of the Sierra Vista Community Center is hung with blue hearts honoring the victims of the Monterey Park shooting.

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The lobby of the Sierra Vista Community Center is hung with blue hearts honoring the victims of the Monterey Park shooting.

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As soft music tinkled in the background, some of the survivors took part in a painting activity. Then, a few spontaneously started to dance, Loc said.

“I'm getting goosebumps,” Loc said, recalling the night. “It was really, really touching.”

But, she added, “our work is not done yet.”

“Some can go back to dancing, some cannot,” she said. “We're not here to force anybody in any direction but you can provide them with tools.”

A federal court jury has ordered the City of L.A. to pay more than $11.7 million to a man partially blinded by LAPD officers during a 2020 Dodgers World Series celebration.

Isaac Castellanos told the court that he was struck and permanently blinded in one eye early in the morning on Oct. 28, 2020, when two officers fired 37mm less lethal launchers toward the crowd he was standing in. He was 22 years old at the time.

The jury on Thursday unanimously found that Officers Cody MacArthur and Jesse Pineda acted negligently, used excessive force and violated Castellanos’ constitutional rights when they fired into the crowd and caused his injury.

Castellanos isn’t the first crowd control injury case faced by the LAPD, and more are working their way through the courts.

Already, Los Angeles has paid more than $19 million in liabilities stemming from LAPD’s crowd control actions since the beginning of 2020, according to an LAist analysis of data from the City Attorney’s office. Castellanos’ verdict is by far the largest sum awarded since then.

Castellanos and his lawyers told LAist that people should feel free to peacefully celebrate or exercise their first amendment rights without fear of being injured by the police.

“ I'm grateful to have this system of justice where Isaac can be compensated,” Castellanos’ lawyer Pedram Esfandiary told LAist, “and I just hope that this sends a loud and clear message to the LAPD that this is not okay.”

The LAPD has not responded to LAist’s request for comment on the case.

What happened to Castellanos

Unidentified LAPD officers disperse crowds in downtown L.A. during a celebration of the Dodgers winning the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Oct. 27, 2020. A jury has awarded a man partially blinded by officers that night $11.7 million.

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When the Dodgers won their first World Series in more than three decades on Oct. 27, 2020, Castellanos and his friends went to downtown L.A. to celebrate.

Castellanos told the court that he and his friends didn’t see any police officers nearby when they arrived, but within minutes they noticed a squad of police officers gathering down the street.

Video evidence presented in the trial showed that some people in the crowd threw rocks and glass bottles toward the officers. Castellanos said he was not involved. He said he did not act violently or aggressively.

Castellanos said he saw the officers holding “some kind of firearms” start to move toward the crowd, but he did not hear any order for the crowd to leave. By this time, it was after midnight.

He had begun to leave, he said, when he saw a bright muzzle flash from the direction of the officers and heard a loud pop.

He was immediately in extreme pain and felt warm blood coming from his face, he testified. He also noticed a loss of vision in his right eye.

Dr. Jerry Sebag is an eye specialist who testified as an expert witness in the case. He said that Castellanos experienced “severe blunt force trauma” to his eye, most likely from a rubber bullet, causing legal blindness in his right eye and a loss of depth perception.

Sebag said there is no medication or surgery that could fix his condition.

Evidence provided in the case later proved that the MacArthur and Pineda fired 37mm less lethal launchers at the same place and time as Castellanos says he was injured.

Lawyers for Castellanos argued in court that the officers used their weapons outside of LAPD policy, being too far away from the crowd to accurately use the weapons and not issuing a warning or dispersal order to allow Castellanos a chance to leave.

The city’s attorneys claimed that it was not the officers who caused the injury, and that the officers’ use of their weapons was within policy as they were responding to a threat from the crowd.

Other cases cost the city millions

At least seven other cases since 2020 stemming from LAPD’s crowd control actions have exceeded $1 million in liability costs to the city, according to city data.

Behind Castellanos’ $11.7 million verdict, the next largest was $3.6 million awarded to filmmaker A. Jamal Shakir Jr. after he was found to have been shot by LAPD less lethal projectiles during a May 29, 2020, protest.

City data shows the LAPD’s actions over the course of a single day — May 30, 2020 — eventually cost the city a combined total of $4.25 million to settle three lawsuits.

Iz Sinistra, a Marine Corps veteran who was struck in the head by an LAPD less lethal projectile while attending George Floyd protests on May 30, 2020, was awarded a $1.25 million settlement from the city.

Seconds after Sinistra was hit, Patricia Hill could also be seen struck in the head by a less lethal round fired by LAPD in a video released by the department. Hill was awarded a $1.5 million settlement by the city, according to city data.

Monique Alarcon is an attorney who represented both Castellanos and Sinistra in court.

Alarcon said that while the severity of injuries that have led to lawsuits against the LAPD over its crowd control tactics vary, she sees the improper use of force as a common thread.

“ I think this behooves the City of L.A. and the LAPD to really take a look at their crowd control practices and consider discontinuing using these weapons in those settings, because people get really hurt,” she told LAist.

In the past year, at least two more people have filed lawsuits alleging LAPD less lethal munitions caused permanent eye damage and blindness.

In one such case, Marshall Woodruff claims LAPD fractured his cheekbone and ruptured his right eye while he was photographing the “No Kings” protest on June 14, 2024. His lawsuit claims he is now permanently blind in that eye.

The department acknowledged in a public video that Marshall Woodruff was hit by a 40mm less lethal projectile fired by LAPD.

Jesus Javier Islas says he was blinded in one eye by a less lethal projectile allegedly fired by LAPD at a protest on Jan. 31, 2026. Lawyers for Islas told reporters they are asking $100 million in damages from the LAPD and the City of L.A.

Getting back on track

Castellanos was a college student at Cal State Long Beach when he was injured.

Before the injury, he'd been gaining momentum as an Esports athlete and streamer, testifying that he had recently won a $40,000 prize with a teammate at a competition and had won a qualifying match to play for a professional team.

While he got some accommodations from his college and was able to graduate on time, Castellanos said his Esports career ended with his injury.

Castellanos testified that he played in an Esports competition with a college alumni team after his injury, but he couldn’t play like he did before. By the end of the competition he said his team had done well, but he felt he’d held them back.

No longer able to follow his passion, he said he began working at an Amazon warehouse, packaging and sorting boxes part time. That work, too, was made much harder by the injury.

“I’m always bumping into stuff,” Castellanos testified, “I always mess up and put [items] in the wrong box.”

Now that the verdict is in, he told LAist he wants to get his life back on track so he can lead a full life.

His lawyers described in court how he has suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, depression and panic disorder as a result of the injury. Castellanos said the mental strain also made his relationships with friends and family suffer.

He told LAist the next steps are to mend those relationships and get into professional treatment for his mental health.

“ I want to try to try to get comfortable in my own skin again,” he said.

The U.S. surf team will officially be managed by surfers when the Olympics come to LA in 2028. Duh? Well, for a while there, it was in doubt. Let us explain:

The backstory

US Ski and Snowboard, based in Utah, had initially been vying for control of the Olympic surf team in hopes of turning itself into an action sports juggernaut. But faced with strong opposition in the surf world, the organization dropped its bid to manage the U.S. Olympic surf team late last year.

Why it's a second chance for USA Surfing

The designation of USA Surfing as the official “National Governing Body” for Olympic surfing is a kind of second chance for the organization. Previously, it had relinquished control over the U.S. Olympic surf team following a 2019 audit that found numerous problems with its accounting and finances.

What changed?

In a news conference this week, Gene Sykes, board chair of the U.S. Olympic committee, credited USA Surfing’s “new leadership and new approach” with earning back the board’s confidence. “Surfing is a sport that has deep roots in Southern California and will no doubt be a highlight of the LA28 games,” Sykes said. “We look forward to a positive and collaborative working relationship as we deliver on the promise of LA28 and beyond.”

Tell me about Olympic surfing

Olympic surfing at the LA28 Games will take place at Lower Trestles, a world-class surf break in San Clemente.

Go deeper on this surf v. sand fight, and the latest Olympic news

• Surfers not on board with plan to have ski group control Olympic surfing
• Why are Olympics tickets so expensive?
• LA28 to award billions in Olympic contracts. City officials worry local businesses won't get a slice
• Why city officials are warning that the Olympics could bankrupt Los Angeles

Orange County is set to host two competitions during the Olympics in 2028, with surfing in San Clemente and volleyball in Anaheim. The global event is set to attract millions of fans to the region, and OC officials now want to figure out how to make money off the Games.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to create the LA 28 Olympic Preparedness Committee, which will be led by Supervisors Katrina Foley and Vicente Sarmiento.

Foley said the county is behind in preparing for the Olympics and the revenue opportunities that may come with the Games.

“Right now, Orange County doesn't really have a seat at the table, so we felt like we needed to get going,” Foley told Laist. “We did miss that opportunity in 1984, and we don't want that to happen again.”

The county is not responsible for paying for the Olympics, but Foley said the committee will work to find out what associated costs there may be.

Those costs could come from transportation needs, security, community events and more.

“It will be a long list,” Sarmiento added. “And we're not going to solve it all, but we need to ask the questions so later on we don't say, 'Why weren't these questions asked?’ or ‘Why wasn't even a discussion entertained?’”

How much of the Games will be in the OC? 

Surfing will be held at a famed break south of San Clemente and volleyball will be held at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

Mike Lyster, Anaheim’s chief communications officer, said the city doesn’t have the full details yet on the cost of hosting the volleyball tournament, but that the city is no stranger to large sporting events.

“The Olympics do bring some added dimension with international visitors and other considerations,” Lyster said. “We are working through that now to best understand what it entails.”

The county is also set to host several countries during the Games, according to Foley.

“We just learned that Italy is taking over all of Cal State Fullerton. That's great news for Orange County,” Foley said. “UCI is going to be an Olympic Village. Dana Point Harbor, we're going to create what I'm calling a seaside Olympic Village, not an official village of the Olympics, but official for Orange County.”

Officials say the athletes and the fans could help the county bolster its tourism.

“This isn't just about the Olympics in 2028,” Foley said. “This is about showcasing Orange County as a place for people to want to come back to after the Olympics.”

How much will Olympic-related spending cost the county? 

That number is elusive, Sarmiento told LAist, and the committee will ask for a report on what the county could be on the hook for.

“We'll be trying to anticipate and predict what the cost would be,” Sarmiento said. “But also being preemptive and looking to both the state and the federal administration to see, are there monies that they are going to be providing for the region?”

Supervisor Doug Chaffee said during Tuesday’s meeting that state and federal funding is in question.

“I know on other boards, such as our transportation board, we're being asked to provide special transportation, but the money hasn't come yet,” Chaffee said. “If the money is offered too late, it'll be hard to provide the transportation.”

Sarmiento said there is interest in developing the relationship between the Los Angeles and Orange counties transportation systems.

“It really is aligning the transportation systems so people can easily access events, training facilities [and] temporary residential sites,” Sarmiento added.

Last month, the Trump administration’s federal budget proposal for L.A. Metro’s key transit plan for the Games didn’t provide a dime of the $2 billion the agency is seeking. The plan includes using thousands of buses to scatter venues hosting the Games.

What could this mean for Orange County residents? 

The committee will also look into organizing community events, like public watch parties and its own fan zones.

“At the county parks, where we currently have movie nights and concerts and we can host 2,000 people, I would like to see us have viewing opportunities and experiences where not only the tourists can participate, but our own residents can participate in the game,” Foley said.

That’s especially important for residents who couldn’t afford the tickets to the Olympics, Sarmiento added.

“Watching them in community, watching them at our parks, at venues that we have available here in the county, is going to be a unique, special experience for many of our residents because we just know they will be priced out of being able to attend in person,” Sarmiento said.

Israel has agreed to begin a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon, which would pause Israel's conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah that has escalated since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran. The truce will start Thursday at 5 p.m. Eastern time, President Donald Trump announced.

The devastating conflict in Lebanon has posed a challenge for the shaky ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, as Iranian leaders have insisted the agreement include Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the U.S. continues enforcing a naval blockade on ships entering and exiting Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, as mediators work to bring about an end to the Iran war that has engulfed the region and caused oil supply disruptions and higher fuel prices around the world.

Here are more updates from the Middle East conflict:

Israel ceasefire in Lebanon | U.S.-Iran talks | Iranian threats

Lebanese displaced woman Mariam Zein sits with her son inside the classroom of a school transformed into a displaced reception center in the area of Dekwaneh, east of Beirut on April 15, 2026.

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Israel agrees to a 10-day ceasefire in the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has agreed to enter a 10-day ceasefire in the fight against Iran-backed Hezbollah but will not withdraw Israel's troops from southern Lebanon.

His remarks followed President Trump's announcement on social media that Netanyahu and the president of Lebanon agreed to the temporary ceasefire.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he welcomed Trump's ceasefire announcement.

But Hezbollah said the Lebanese people have "the right to resist" if Israeli forces remained in Lebanon, Reuters reported, raising the question of whether it will abide by the truce.

Hezbollah has both a political wing, with lawmakers in Lebanon's national parliament, and a militant wing that operates largely independently of the Lebanese government and receives funding and direction from Iran.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said the ceasefire would take effect at 5 p.m. — but warned that Israeli forces would take action if threatened.

"We will have to follow very carefully what's happening on the ground. And if we will feel threatened, we will react," Danon told reporters at the State Department in Washington. "We are not going anywhere. We are holding our positions."

"The problem is not with the Lebanese government. The problem is with Hezbollah. And it will be challenging," he said.

Trump also said he is inviting Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House for peace talks.

These developments come two days after Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. held rare talks in Washington, the first direct high-level engagement between the two countries in decades.

Israel had agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon in 2024, but U.N. peacekeepers recorded more than 10,000 violations of that agreement, mostly by Israeli forces.

The latest chapter of fighting escalated after Israel and the U.S. launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. Within a few days, Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel. Israeli forces responded with airstrikes and an invasion of southern Lebanon.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,100 people and displaced over 1 million in Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities.

Hezbollah's attacks have killed at least 12 Israeli soldiers and two civilians, according to Israeli authorities.

Pakistan army chief visits Tehran to revive talks

Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, a key mediator in talks between the U.S. and Iran, was in Iran's capital Tehran Thursday to secure a second round of U.S.-Iran negotiations ahead of April 22, the deadline of the tenuous two-week ceasefire.

Pakistan, which holds strong diplomatic relations with both the U.S. and Iran, has emerged as a key mediator in negotiations between the two countries.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stressed the point on Wednesday, saying the Pakistanis "are the only mediator in this negotiation" and the president felt it's important to streamline the process through them.

Vice President Vance, Washington's lead negotiator, said a major sticking point that led to the breakdown in Saturday's talks was Iran's refusal to commit to abandoning its nuclear ambitions.

In this photo released by Telegram channel of the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, right, welcomes Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir upon his arrival in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 15, 2026.

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"The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon," Vance said.

Iran, under its 10-point negotiation plan, demanded an end to Israel's attacks against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah as part of any permanent agreement. Other demands from the Iranian delegation included the release of $6 billion in frozen assets, guarantees around its nuclear program and the right to charge ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's military threatens to block key shipping routes

Iran's military warned it will retaliate by blocking other important shipping routes if the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues.

Major-General Ali Abdol-lahi, the commander of Iran's top military command center, renewed threats on Wednesday to halt all trade in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea in retaliation for U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

Of particular concern is Bab al Mandeb, a narrow waterway in the Red Sea for vessels sailing between Europe and Asia. Iranian-aligned Houthi militias in Yemen control much of the coastline near the Bab al Mandeb. Houthis disrupted shipping in that passage during the height of the Gaza war.

Another route that could be in jeopardy if Iran retaliates is a pipeline that Saudi Arabia has used just after the Iran war began on Feb. 28 to divert crude oil from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea.

A top aide to Iran's supreme leader said Thursday Iran would sink U.S. ships if Trump tries to "police" the Strait of Hormuz and that he'd welcome a ground invasion as a chance to hold US soldiers hostage.

Mohsen Rezaee, a former commander in chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, told the Iranian Fars news agency he is personally opposed to a ceasefire, and that Iran is prepared for a prolonged conflict with the United States.

Feelings are mixed among the Iranian public about the possibility of a ceasefire. Many say they welcome an end to the war, but critics of the regime say keeping a hardline government in place will lead to a harsher crackdown on dissent and personal freedoms.

In this voice note shared with NPR, a carpenter in the city of Rasht, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he fears for his safety, said he thinks it's a good sign that Iran has sat at the negotiating table at all. But many, he says — are fed up with and how long the process has taken. It makes people's hopelessness even worse, he said.

Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv, Israel, Kat Lonsdorf and Jawad Rizkallah in Beirut, Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Ahmed Abuhamda in Cairo, Rebecca Rosman in London, Jackie Northam in Maine, Tina Kraja and Alex Leff in Washington contributed to this report.
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