The Take What the world is getting wrong about what Iranians think
17 snips
Mar 5, 2026 Yara Elmjouie, AJ+ senior producer who reports on Iranian public opinion and social media. She describes communication blackouts and how she gets updates from inside Iran. She talks about the mixed emotions on social platforms and the danger of binary frames. She explains verifying fast-moving footage and the stark costs of conflict for people inside the country.
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Difficulty Contacting Family In Iran
- Yara Elmjouie struggles to call Iran from the U.S. because landline calls are failing.
- She gets sporadic voice notes from relatives and confirms connectivity comes in brief spurts, showing how fraught contact is right now.
Social Media Mixes Trauma With Personal Memory
- Social media shows both horror at Tehran's destruction and intimate memories tied to those places.
- Yara cites Ferdowsi Square and a favorite Mexican restaurant with a pre-revolution dance floor to humanize the footage.
Avoid The Pro-Imperialism Versus Pro-Regime Binary
- Yara warns against forcing every reaction to Iran into a binary of pro-imperialism or pro-regime.
- She explains many people judge content by whether it fits their geopolitical prism, producing false narratives and angry DMs.