Why the US Can Reach the Moon but Not Connect Iran
▼ Summary
– The US-Israel attack on Iran three months ago has caused chaos, confusion, and global economic damage expected to last months or years.
– The Iranian people are the most affected but least heard from due to a nationwide internet blackout and lack of free press or foreign correspondents in Iran.
– Jason Rezaian, former Washington Post Tehran bureau chief, was imprisoned by Iran for nearly two years on espionage charges and released in a prisoner exchange.
– The current fragile ceasefire may not hold, with the US not ruling out more strikes and fears the war could spread beyond the Middle East.
– President Trump likely does not want further attacks due to domestic economic pain, but Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is a wild card pushing to continue the conflict.
It has been three months since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran, plunging the region into what appears to be an open-ended conflict defined by confusion, economic turmoil, and global repercussions that experts say will linger for months, if not longer.
The Iranian people, who bear the heaviest burden of this war, are arguably the voices we hear the least. A nationwide internet blackout imposed by Tehran’s regime has effectively silenced much of the population. The absence of a free press and a shortage of foreign correspondents inside the country compound the problem. Jason Rezaian knows this reality intimately: In 2014, while serving as The Washington Post’s Tehran bureau chief, he was arrested by Iranian authorities, convicted of espionage, and spent nearly two years in prison before being released in a prisoner swap.
To better grasp the current state of US-Iran relations and what a potential end to this war might look like, I sought out someone who has lived inside the country and can speak directly to the regime’s brutal tactics and the risks facing Iran’s 93 million citizens. Rezaian, now the director of press freedom initiatives at The Washington Post, sat down to discuss everything from his personal experience navigating Iran’s oppressive government and state-run media to the war’s distorting effects, including meme wars and internet blackouts.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
KATIE DRUMMOND: Jason, thank you for joining me on The Big Interview.
JASON REZAIAN: Thanks, Katie. Happy to be here.
Let’s start with the present. We’re recording on a Wednesday, about a week before this episode airs. Right now, there’s a fragile ceasefire in place. No one knows how long it will hold. The US hasn’t ruled out more strikes, and Iran’s latest statements raise fears the conflict could spread beyond the Middle East. How do you read the current situation?
I think it’s important to remember that we’ve been in some form of conflict with Iran since 1979. We’ve never been at peace with the Islamic Republic. One of their first acts was taking American diplomats hostage in our embassy in Tehran. So this hostility isn’t new. As for this ceasefire, I don’t believe President Trump wants to attack Iran again. His own statements suggest that. He said, “I was gonna do it last night, but I got talked out of it.”
He changed his mind.
Exactly. The economic pain at home seems to have shifted his stance on regime change, if that was ever his goal. I doubt he could clearly explain why he started this in the first place.
That said, Israel,especially Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,wants to keep going. He’s the wild card. And the level of suffering the Iranian regime is willing to endure, and force its people to endure, is beyond what we imagined.
(Source: Wired)
