Inside Iran’s Response: Why Its Retaliation Went Far Beyond Expectations

Hassan Ahmadian, Associate Professor of West Asian studies at the University of Tehran, joins Rania Khalek from inside Iran as the country reels from the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, mass civilian casualties, and a rapidly widening regional war. He describes shock and mourning in the streets, rejects claims that Iranians will rally behind U.S.-backed regime change, and explains why Iran is escalating across the region in what it sees as an existential fight for survival.