Code Switch Why Iranian perspectives often get flattened and caricatured
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Mar 7, 2026 
Sina Toossi, an Iranian American foreign policy expert and senior fellow who studies U.S.-Iran relations, sketches the many and conflicting perspectives inside Iran. He recounts reactions to strikes, the terror of communication blackouts, and a powerful third current: pro-democracy Iranians who oppose foreign military intervention. The conversation highlights how outside narratives simplify a complex society.
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Personal Shock Of Waking To War
- Sina Toossi woke up on a cruise to news of U.S. strikes and felt overwhelmed by videos of explosions in places he had visited as a child.
- He scrambled to contact family; his father reached his grandmother and uncle who reported seeing explosions while driving home.
Iran Is Not A Monolith
- Code Switch frames how broad identities get flattened and emphasizes Iran's internal diversity of 90 million people across ethnicities and faiths.
- The episode foregrounds that Iranian views on U.S. intervention and the future of Iran are varied and often misrepresented.
How Iranians Reacted To Khamenei's Killing
- Sina explains Iran is polarized: many suffered repression and hoped for change after Khamenei's assassination but now fear the fallout of war.
- He recounts supporters of the Islamic Republic mobilizing, increased securitization, and society feeling on the edge of an abyss.