The Political Scene | The New Yorker How the War Has Reshaped Life in Iran
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Mar 25, 2026 Cora Engelbrecht, a New Yorker reporter who filed dispatches from Iran during blackouts, recounts civilian life under bombardment and repression. She describes clandestine reporting via Starlink, shortages and shelters in Tehran, and how strikes shifted from symbolic to destructive. The conversation highlights fears of abandonment, shifting hopes for intervention, and the heavy burden ordinary people now carry.
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Desperation Turned Some Toward Foreign Intervention
- After mass killings many Iranians who once opposed foreign intervention began to see external strikes as the only path to change.
- Cora heard people describe wanting war as a 'suicide wish' born from desperation against an internal enemy.
Khamenei Compared To Mythic Tyrant
- Hadi equated Khamenei to Zahak, an evil tyrant fed on youth, to explain why killing him felt symbolic revenge.
- This mythic analogy framed young protesters' deaths as daily sacrifices that demanded retribution.
Everyday Roles Became Fixer Duties
- Daily life shifted to sheltering, running errands, and informal caregiving; some who stayed became local fixers.
- Hadi fed neighbors' cats, collected keys, and managed requests from relatives abroad to check on missing people.