Hi there. I'm Jessica Mendoza. I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm the co-host of the journal podcast. I live in Washington, D.C. On Tuesday afternoon, I opened up WhatsApp to record a voice note, a message to a man in Tehran,

one of many people inside Iran that are reporters have been able to speak to in recent weeks.

I wanted to know how people there were feeling this week, as the world counted down to a Tuesday night

deadline set by President Trump. He was threatening to strike Iran's power plants, bridges, and other critical infrastructure,

and warning in a social media post that, quote,

a whole civilization will die tonight if Iran didn't reopen the straight of her moose.

Within minutes, my WhatsApp pinged.

The man had responded.

Reporter Hamrazbayan translated for both of us, in Farsi and English.

Hello, I'm 38 years old.

I'm a civil engineer, and I manage construction projects.

Alongside that, my wife and I won a cafe and a restaurant. There were a few hours till the deadline, and he was at home with

friends, racing for a potentially serious escalation of the conflict.

Tonight we've invited two of our friends over to our home just to be together.

It might be the last night we have electricity.

Right now, we are having a small gathering.

By tomorrow morning, when we wake up, very bad things may have happened.

Less than 90 minutes before Trump's deadline, the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire. Trump's threats were off,

for now. For many across Iran, the ceasefire brought a wave of relief after weeks of intense bombing. But the two-week pause looks fragile. The man I'd been speaking to told me that for him, the anxiety hasn't lifted.

This ceasefire has also made us worried, whether in the next two weeks they will reach a final agreement.

Because right now, both sides of the war are claiming victory.

People are both happy and afraid at the same time.

...