Michael Barbaro

more or less guarantees that its government is really never the same, even if it's an insider from the regime running it.

And by that, I really mean it's hard to fathom Iran returning to the system of proxies and state-sponsored terror that really defined Khamenei's 35 years in power for the simple reason that

Over time, it resulted in his own death.

It made the U.S.

and it made Israel believe that the only way to solve the problem was to take out the leader.

Well, just to end, Farnaz, I wonder, to that point, what members of the Iranian opposition and the expat world diaspora, you even, what you're allowing yourself to hope for and to dream of for Iran in this moment of such extraordinary flux and

And fear, but also possibility.

Of returning.

A pretty modest goal.

Well, let me ask about a perhaps less modest set of possibilities.

I'm thinking about the people who were taking shots on Saturday.

I mean, what do they dare to think about beyond just visiting relatives back in Iran?

Well, Farnaz, thank you very much.

We really appreciate it.

Thank you for having me, Michael.

In an interview on Sunday night with The Times, President Trump said that the American military assault against Iran could last up to four to five weeks.

When pressed on his plan for who should lead Iran's government,

the president offered several seemingly inconsistent visions.

One scenario, he said, was that the United States identified a cooperative leader from inside the regime.

Another scenario, he said, was that Iran's elite military forces would simply lay down their weapons and surrender to the people of Iran.