Michael Barbaro

Right.

Right.

Because the people doing shots in their homes, uncorking champagne, those people would seem to have a very hard time reconciling their...

reactions and their whole worldview with those who are clinging to photos of the now late supreme leader in the streets.

If you had to estimate, Farnaz, how big would you describe both of those camps as?

The supporters, the mourners versus the dissidents, the opponents, those celebrating his death?

Got it.

So you're extrapolating from that, which seems quite reasonable.

Well, because his death is so fresh and the reactions, as you are describing them, are so different, let's talk about this man who is inspiring such profound reactions, Khamenei, and why he inspires such strong reactions.

Anti-Israelism.

And yet despite the Supreme Leader's success in holding back protests by being so repressive, what we know, we've talked about it a lot on the show, is that behind the scenes, the regime is getting weaker and weaker because the United States and Israel...

which grew increasingly tired of Iranian state-sponsored terrorism, especially after October 7th, they basically say enough is enough.

They start unleashing waves of attacks against Iran, all of which would seem to make the regime very aware that its situation had become precarious.

But over the past couple of days, we now know, because the Supreme Leader was taken out with relative ease,

It doesn't seem like they were being all that careful or cautious.

And why, though?

Why were they so accessible to these attacks that, like you said, everybody seemed to know were coming?

Fascinating.

Right, which may be Iranian propaganda after the fact or may contain some shred of truth.

On the subject of the regime's sloppiness or complacency, just how many of its leaders did the U.S.