If this war was meant to provide an opportunity for Iranian people to overthrow their regime and install a west-friendly government, and if Iranian people aren't actually going and doing that, then do we call off the war or are we going to keep it going indefinitely, as seems to be the modern fashion?
As for the Iranian side, on the Belgian government channel, there's an interview with 3 Iranian women. The title is "Willing to Risk Everything, Even Death": VRT NWS Speaks with 3 Women from Iran Despite Internet Blockade
https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2026/03/06/getuigenissen-iran-1...
In it you will essentially find a description of
1) how bad the situation is
2) that it is actually better than normal life under the regime
3) that their biggest fear is to go back to the regime (and yes it's these women themselves that put forward the dramatized version that they'd like the war on Iran to continue even if it kills them personally)
I find this attitude in many places. Not quite as dramatic but the basic principle that Iranians fear, more than anything, more than the war itself, that the situation would go back to "normal life" under the islamic regime.
Meanwhile, the islamic regime has taken to emptying machine guns at residential blocks where people are musically celebrating the death of Khamenei. To ordering their troops to "shoot-to-kill" at children. And worse.
Whether they'll reopen the strait of Hormuz is also driven, in reverse, by how extreme they are. But the more extreme they are, the less likely they'll ever reopen it.
Having the strait of Hormuz closed is a big problem for Europe and China, a medium problem for the US, and an existential problem for the middle eastern countries (except Israel/Lebanon and a few others like Yemen). And ... a good thing for Russia (in fact they've been trying to get here for decades).
But the Iranian regime chooses to fight against the entire world. The correct action for Iran/IRGC, frankly obviously, is to ... guarantee the safety of ships in the Hormuz strait. Literally to the point they cooperate with the US on the water, while the US is murdering their government, while the US is torpedo-ing their ships. Really, going that far. That is required for them to have a chance to win this. But they're, literally, too stupid to see this themselves, and too extreme to take that simple truth from anyone, including their closest allies.
So my "strategic assessment" on this is, first, that it was unavoidable we'd get to this point with Iran anyway. The clock was ticking where we'd be in the same situation even if we never fired a shot, and it could just as well have happened 10 years ago. And once we're in this situation, the only way out for oil markets, but especially for middle eastern countries is fighting until the regime is out. So unfortunately we'll fight this war to the end, whatever it takes, and US/Israel will get more and more allies as it drags on (already Saudi Arabia and UAE have said they'll join the war, and if they will, everyone will. Since then France, UK, Ukraine are also looking what they can offer)
And ironically, Trump is probably forcing this because he'll lose the midterms.
It's already leading to total insanity: do you know the Taliban are currently fighting on the US and Israel's side? Right fucking now, Taliban fighters have died and are dying fighting Trump's war. I doubt anyone asked them, but here we are.
As most societies, I would imagine Iran is quite polarized these days, with the regime having legitimate supporters as well as legitimate enemies domestically.
The difference to most societies is that both the regime and its enemies are happily killing civilians, making the situation so much worse.
What's not normal is that US is supposedly not at war with Iran. What's not normal is that there isn't even a slightest effort being made to hold anybody accountable about it. What's not normal is that it probably happened because of AI tools that are right 99.9% of time, but this was this 0.1% of time.
> “Death and destruction from the sky all day long,” Pete Hegseth, wearing a red, white and and blue tie and pocket square, bragged to reporters at the Pentagon near Washington. “This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be.”
> As defence secretary Hegseth has vowed to “unleash overwhelming and punishing violence” on enemies and promised to dispense with “stupid rules of engagement” – rules designed to restrict attacks on civilian populations.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/08/pete-hegseth...
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