Unity and energy are the official traces coming from Iran‘s theocratic government in the face of President Trump’s demand for “unconditional surrender” and the likelihood that he may order the U.S. army to affix Israel’s assaults on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear services.
Israel’s each day, almost weeklong bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and missile websites, and its assassinations of prime commanders and senior scientists, have compounded the dilemma for Iran’s leaders — particularly as they face the potential of inside unrest from a inhabitants beneath assault.
At the least 639 Iranians have been killed and greater than 1,300 wounded over the previous six days, in keeping with the Washington-based Human Rights Activists in Iran group, which depends on a community of contacts within the nation. Tens of hundreds of Tehran’s roughly 10 million residents have now fled the capital, and different cities have additionally emptied out to a point, with many individuals in search of safer areas within the countryside.
However Iran’s ruling Muslim clerics and their adherents don’t speak about an exodus. As an alternative, they undertaking solidarity, and even mock President Trump and his ultimatums.
“Even Iranian dissident figures are now pro-Iran,” he claimed, “because they know it is about [maintaining] the integrity of Iran, the whole being of Iran.”
An Iranian Purple Crescent ambulance hit in an Israeli strike on June 16, 2025, in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province, is displayed in Haft-e Tir Sq. in Tehran, Iran, June 19, 2025.
Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu/Getty
However after per week of bruising assaults by Israel, and with the specter of extra to come back and even doable direct U.S. intervention looming on the horizon, the optimism and bluster could also be getting more durable to take care of.
“Let’s say, the power of Iran in the region has been weakened. It’s not something that you can deny,” acknowledged Gholamzadeh. “But the government itself has not been weakened at all. The Iranians are very united right now. The social cohesion is very strong right now.”
At most, Gholamzadeh claimed 20% of all Iranians could be joyful to see their authorities fall.
“There might be 10% to 15% who are against the state, but not all of them would be participating in any activities” in opposition to the regime, he mentioned, suggesting solely 5% of Iranians would truly come out onto the streets “to actively participate.”
However latest surveys performed earlier than the present conflict, by impartial organizations primarily based exterior Iran, discovered fairly the alternative.
In 2023, following mass anti-government protests sparked the earlier 12 months by the loss of life of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in spiritual police custody, a survey by the Netherlands-based Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran discovered that 81% of the nation’s residents have been in opposition to the cleric-led Iranian regime.
The 2022 anti-government protests have been quashed, brutally, and nothing like them has been seen in Iran since. Censorship is rife, and Iran’s authorities has considerably curbed web entry during the last week, citing cyberthreats.
Gholamzadeh repeated warnings issued by Iran’s leaders, in opposition to the U.S. changing into actively concerned within the battle.
“Americans have a lot of military bases in different countries here in the region,” he famous, calling them “very easy targets.”
President Trump has warned repeatedly that any Iranian assault on American property within the Center East could be met with a swift response.
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