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The Political Scene | The New Yorker

Could the Coronavirus Pandemic Change Iran’s Political Future?

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

The New Yorker

President, Wickenden, Washington, Lizza, Obama, Wnyc, News, Barack, Politics

4.33.9K Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2020

⏱️ 22 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamanei, has failed to cover up the extent of damage posed to the country by the coronavirus crisis. Dexter Filkins travelled to Iran in February, just as the outbreak was metastasizing. He joins Dorothy Wickenden to discuss what Iranian doctors and young dissidents told him, and why people think this could be a breaking point for the generation of aging revolutionaries.

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Transcript

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This is the political scene, a weekly conversation with New Yorker writers and guests about

1:16.9

politics. It's Thursday, May 21st. I'm Dorothy Wickenden, executive editor of the New Yorker.

1:24.2

Bismallah, al-haman, and the

1:28.3

Al-hannu, al-hannibal, al-hā� al-a al-aulah.

1:32.3

For more than 30 years, Ayatollah Khomeini has exerted near absolute control

1:38.3

over the Iranian government and the daily lives of citizens.

1:42.3

But he now faces an unprecedented series of crises. In January,

1:47.0

Qasem Soleimani, leader of the elite intelligence service called the Quds Force, and

1:52.0

Hamonet's right-hand man, was assassinated in an American drone strike. The next month, the coronavirus

1:59.0

began to ravage the country. As the death toll mounted and the

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