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Iranians debate whether the war is worth it
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− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions The Best Music of 2025 About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Iranians debate whether the war is worth it As the war in Iran enters its second month, many Iranians are urging the U.S and Israel to keep striking their country.
+ These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them.
Emily Feng
A member of the Iranian security forces stands guard next to a banner honoring Iran's former longtime supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, on Tuesday.
− World Iranians debate whether the war is worth it March 31, 20265:33 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered By Emily Feng Iranians debate whether the war is worth it Listen · 5:14 5:14 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5759351/nx-s1-9711271" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript As the war in Iran enters its second month, many Iranians are urging the U.S and Israel to keep striking their country.
+ Israeli-U.S.
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SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
It has been more than a month since the U.S.
+ attacks killed Khamenei early in the war.
+ Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
VAN, Turkey — It has been more than one month since the U.S.
− says it has hit more than 11,000 targets.
+ says it has hit more than 10,000 targets.
− U.S.
+ But U.S.- and Norway-based human rights groups estimate that at least hundreds of Iranian civilians have also been killed.
Middle East conflict Trump hints at an end to military action in Iran, saying U.S.
− and Norway-based human rights groups estimate hundreds of Iranian citizens have been killed.
+ will leave in 2-3 weeks The war has also widened bitter ideological divides among Iranians in and outside the country over whether the conflict has been justified.
"There is difficulty [with the bombing], but we are not that weak," says one Iranian woman from Tehran, traveling to Turkey for a short break, given that her work has stopped due to the U.S.
− So a month in, what do Iranians themselves think of this war?
+ and Israeli bombing of the capital city.
− NPR's Emily Feng traveled to Iran's border with Turkey to find out.
EMILY FENG, BYLINE: I meet this woman from Tehran after she's just walked across a land border with Iran with her luggage.
+ "In the past few years, the Islamic Republic [of Iran] has proved to us that we cannot trust them.
− She says she has no work now due to the U.S.
+ But we were in war with Israel in the summer [during the 12-day war], and we saw how precise their targeting was, so we trust them."
"We are going to build a nuclear bomb now, because there's no fatwa against it anymore," interjects an Iranian man, overhearing her remarks, referring to a rumored religious ban on nuclear weapons issued by Iran's former supreme leader, whom Israel assassinated with U.S.
− and Israeli bombing of her city.
+ help at the beginning of the war in late February.
Like all the Iranians in this story, the two people asked to remain anonymous.
− And like many Iranians crossing through this mountain border, she's looking for some respite from the war but will head back soon.
+ They have received texts from the Iranian government and have seen signs coming out of Iran warning them not to speak to foreign media on pain of arrest.
− UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: "You don't need to worry about us," she says.
Like all the Iranians in this piece, she asked to remain anonymous.
+ Just across the border with Iran, in eastern Turkey, the Turkish city of Van is just as full as during prewar times, with thousands of Iranian workers, consulate employees, students and tourists, who are traveling despite the war in their home country.
− They've received texts from the Iranian government, and some have seen signs coming out of Iran telling them not to speak to foreign media on pain of arrest.
+ Van has also become a microcosm of the full range of divergent opinions that Iranians have about the war.
− UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: "In the past few years, the Islamic republic has proven to us that we cannot trust them, so much so that we'd rather trust Israel," she says.
We're standing in a crowd of Iranians looking for cars to take them further into Turkey and overhearing us, an Iranian man who says he's just crossed as well to work in Turkey, interjects.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: "There's no such thing as hardship in Iran.
+ "There is no such thing as hardship in Iran," says one Iranian man, who crossed into Turkey for his job last week.
− Everyone lives freely, man or woman. She's lying," he says.
+ "Everyone lives freely, woman or man."
Next to him, a second Iranian man looks at him, wide-eyed and shaking.
− Next to him, a second Iranian man listens on, wide-eyed and shaking.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: "In two days, the government killed 40,000 people," the man says.
He's referring to a deadly government crackdown in January on protesters, a crackdown which President Trump repeatedly criticized before attacking Iran.
+ "In two days, the government killed 40,000 people," the man says, referring to a government crackdown in January on protesters.
− A U.S.-based human rights group has confirmed over 7,000 deaths in that crackdown, but many Iranians, including this man, believe the death toll is far higher.
+ A U.S.-based human rights group has confirmed over 7,000 deaths, but many Iranians believe the death toll is far higher.
− UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Non-English language spoken).
+ NPR has not been able to travel and report inside Iran, so it has been interviewing Iranians traveling through border areas, including in eastern Turkey.
− FENG: "You say she's lying, but are all 90 million people in Iran lying?" he asks.
This exchange shows the fraught debates Iranians are having about whether the U.S.
+ The dozens of Iranians NPR has interviewed transiting through Van may not be representative of all Iranians in the country.
− and Israeli war on Iran is justified.
+ Many Iranians in Van are those wealthy enough to travel.
− Most Iranians NPR interviewed argued it is - their perspectives indelibly shaped by that government crackdown in early January.
+ But there are also poorer Iranians working, often under the table, in Turkey.
− This year's killing of demonstrators proved to them, they say, that decades of popular resistance would never have changed their government.
+ A few Iranians I met and interviewed say they are heading off to study abroad.
− UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Non-English language spoken).
+ Middle East conflict Iran's propaganda machine trolls Trump The commonality among most Iranians NPR spoke with is that they feel they have lost opportunities — to make a living, to voice their opinions, simply to live — under the current government, which they say must go.
− FENG: "Three of my own friends were killed," says this Iranian.
+ "Our pain is something you have to feel for yourself [to understand]," says one Iranian man who has been working in Turkey for the last year.
− "My friends were all young.
+ He spent the previous seven years in prison, he says, after being accused of being an anti-Islamic heretic.
− I knew them all my life, yet the government killed them so easily."
Every two years, there's a protest, he says, but this time, his hometown in Iran's western Kermanshah Province was brutally retaliated against by government paramilitary groups and punishment.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: "It's like my town has been burned down.
+ "Iran's security forces … took everything from us.
− Nothing is left of it," he says.
+ They only give pain.
− "I see no future for my children in Iran." And his only hope now, as much as it pains him to say, is a foreign intervention.
+ They are pain incarnate," he says, so much so, he is willing to lose all he has, even his family in Iran, for his government to be wiped out.
− NPR has not been able to travel and report inside Iran, and the dozens of Iranians NPR has interviewed in border areas, including in eastern Turkey, may not be representative.
+ "The war should never have started," says one Iranian university student.
− Many are Iranians wealthy enough to travel, but there are also poor Iranians working, often under the table in Turkey.
+ "But now that it has, the U.S.
− A few are heading off to study abroad, and their commonality is they all feel they have lost opportunities to make a living, to voice their opinions or simply to live under the current government which they say must go.
+ and Israel should finish it," she says, meaning toppling Iran's regime.
− UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: "We are scared of this bombing," this Iranian woman says, "but we are happy thinking there might be a light at the end of this darkness.
+ Some Iranians who support the war against their own country say their perspectives are indelibly shaped by that government crackdown in early January.
− When our young people went out and protested this January," she says...
+ This year's killings of demonstrators finally made them realize, they say, that decades of popular resistance would never change their government.
− UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: ..."They were met with bullets, with slaughter, with executions."
"Our pain," another Iranian tells me...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: ..."Is something you have to feel for yourself to understand."
He spent the last seven years in prison, he says, after being accused of being an anti-Islamic heretic.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: "Iran's security forces took everything from us.
+ "Three of my own friends were killed" in the crackdown, says one Iranian man.
− They are pain incarnate," he says.
+ He crossed into Turkey last week to earn money, more than he could make in Iran.
− So much so he is willing to lose all he has left, even his family in Iran, for his government to be wiped out.
The vast majority of the Iranians NPR spoke to had immediate plans to return to their country.
+ "My friends were all young.
− One young Tehran resident says, we are not fleeing.
+ I knew them all my life.
− Even though she almost lost an eye in the anti-government demonstrations this winter, she says she's going back in a few days.
+ Yet the government killed them so easily."
"Every two years, there is a big protest," he says.
− She tells NPR, we're determined to rebuild our country if the government changes.
+ Research from Stanford University published this year found thousands of instances of dissent over the last decade and a half, averaging to one protest every three days inside Iran.
− UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: That situation, I'm going to work.
+ But this time, his hometown, in Iran's western Kermanshah province, was brutally punished by government paramilitary groups for people in his town participating in January's protests.
− FENG: In that situation, she says she will work for her country, even for free.
Emily Feng, NPR News, Van, Turkey.
+ "It is as if my town has been burned down.
− Copyright © 2026 NPR.
+ Nothing is left of it," he says.
− All rights reserved.
+ "I see no future for my children in Iran." His only hope now, he says, is a foreign intervention.
− Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
+ "Our only hope is Trump.
− Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary.
+ Our only hope is that Trump and Bibi [Israel's prime minister] make the right moves."
Middle East conflict Airstrikes may have destroyed Iran's last F-14s, ending a long, strange saga "We are scared of the bombing," an Iranian woman says.
− Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio.
+ "But we are happy thinking that there might be a light at the end of this darkness.
− Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication.
+ When our young people went out and protested this January, they were met with bullets.
− The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
+ With slaughter.
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+ With executions."
Nearly all the Iranians traveling in Turkey who spoke to NPR said they are hopeful about Iran. They have immediate plans to return to their country and stressed that they are not leaving it. Migration data from the United Nations shows fewer Iranians are leaving Iran for Turkey than before the war.
"We are not fleeing," says one young Tehran resident. Even though she almost lost an eye in the anti-government demonstrations this winter, she says she is going back to Tehran in a few days. "We are determined to rebuild our country, and if the government changes, I will work, for free if needed."
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