What's next for the Iranian people?

Yeganeh Torbati takes us inside the lives of ordinary Iranians after the war, where fear, repression, and economic hardship are shaping an uncertain future.

Iran’s government has survived the war, but for ordinary people, the aftermath has meant more fear, economic pain, and little confidence that real change is coming.

In this conversation with Ian Bremmer, New York Times Iran correspondent Yeganeh Torbati offers a look at life inside the country: a protest movement forced underground, internet restrictions that make it harder to organize, and a population still carrying the disappointment of promises that never materialized. She explains how authorities use digital blackouts to control dissent, even as the country’s economy depends on the very connectivity the government restricts.

Torbati also examines the gap between Tehran’s postwar triumphalism and the experience of millions of Iranians dealing with a battered economy, political repression, and a future that feels increasingly uncertain. The regime may have emerged more emboldened, but the anger that brought people into the streets has not disappeared.