Celebration and Mourning: Inside an Iran at War
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I'm Kevin Roos. I'm Casey Newton. And we're the hosts of Hard Fork, a show from the New York Times about technology and the future. About the future that's already here, Kevin. Every week on the show, we bring you news from the front lines of tech, interviews with key newsmakers, wacky experiments that we get up to, and we just generally have a lot of fun. Yeah, so whether you're curious about developments in AI or just what's happening on TikTok, we are here for you. So that's Hard Fork. You can find it wherever you get your podcasts.
From The New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily.
On Sunday, the United States and Israel pounded Iran with missiles for a second straight day, destroying more and more power centers of the regime and, according to rights groups, bringing the civilian death toll there to well over 100. Meanwhile... Iran unleashed a wave of retaliatory attacks that proved deadly. Three U.S. troops were killed in action, becoming the first Americans to die in the war.
As one nation we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.
But increasingly, all eyes were on the Iranian government and the millions of citizens who have long opposed it. And the looming question became whether a weakened Islamic Republic could actually be toppled by its own people. Today, my colleague Farnaz Fasihi brings us the view of this pivotal moment from inside Iran. It's Monday, March 2nd.
Farnaz, thank you for making time for us on a Sunday. Really appreciate it.
Thank you for having me, Michael.
So, Farnaz, for the people of Iran and for the massive diaspora of Iranians who live outside of the country, including you... Sunday, today, as we speak, it's one of those hinge days in history. There was a before and there was an after. And right now, the after is a world in which Iran's supreme leader, who has been in power for over three decades, has been killed and is no longer in power.
It's one of those historic days that I think if for every Iranian, whether you're a supporter of the government or you're an opponent, whether you live inside or you live outside, this is a new day. This is a new Iran. From the moment we started hearing about Mr. Khamenei being potentially killed, my phone started buzzing. I was getting text messages and phone calls from my friends and family members. And I was also getting text messages and calls from some of my sources in Iran who were asking me, do you know anything? Is the news true? Is he gone? What have you heard? No matter what side of the divide you were on, this was a monumental moment. And today, Iranians woke up to the first day of history without Mr. Khamenei in power.
And we don't know exactly what that's going to mean yet, but this figure who has loomed very large for almost four decades over the fate of Iranians is gone. Some Iranians were celebrating. People were pouring to the streets. I had several video calls with several people I know in Tehran who turned on the camera and showed me cars honking on the streets. People cheering. There were fireworks. People sticking their heads out of the windows and chanting, freedom, freedom, and this visceral scream.
What triggered the recent conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran?
like a scream of relief almost.
And for the diaspora, it was scattered all over the world. It was a similar feeling. I watched a group of family members congregate on FaceTime. Some were in the U.S., some were in Europe, some were in Iran. And everybody did a video call and some of them were crying. They were just these tears of relief and shock and joy even. And then they celebrated with shots.
Wow.
And there was a lot of cheers.
And when you say diaspora, you quite literally mean families who were once together in Iran and presumably scattered to the winds across the world once the Islamic Revolution came in 1979? Yeah.
Exactly. It feels like a dream for many Iranians that once they used to all live a few blocks from each other and have multi-generational family gatherings. And under Mr. Khamenei, many of them have not been able to return to Iran.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–4:34
2
What triggered the recent conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran?
4:34–9:02
3
How did the Iranian government and citizens react to the attacks?
9:02–16:19
4
What historical significance does Khamenei's death hold for Iran?
16:19–24:45
5
What emotions are being expressed by Iranians after Khamenei's death?
24:45–36:53
Speakers
5 identifiedMore from The Daily
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