The view from inside Iran

Here & Now Anytime

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4.1 • 953 Ratings

🗓️ 5 March 2026

⏱️ 32 minutes

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Summary

As the U.S. and Israel hit Iranian targets from the air, some Iranian Kurdish groups are reportedly discussing whether to launch an incursion from Iraq, potentially opening a new front in the conflict. Al-Monitor correspondent Amberin Zaman discusses the conversations happening behind the scenes. Then, retired Adm. Mark Montgomery supports the war but has concerns the Trump administration hasn't planned for what comes next. He tells us why. And, former Iranian news editor and Tehran resident Ali Safari talks about what the mood is in Iran's capital city during U.S. and Israeli bombardment. Last year, Safari told us bombings by the U.S. made some Iranians rally around the government.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for here and now anytime comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink software for technical computing and model-based design.
0:09.2	MathWorks accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science. Learn more at Mathworks.com.
0:17.0	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:21.6	Of course they see it as an opportunity, one that they haven't ever had. But on the other hand,
0:28.2	they also think it's very risky. What if Donald Trump cuts a deal with the regime, then what?
0:34.4	Kurdish forces in Iraq are reportedly planning for a possible incursion into Iran.
0:40.4	Could they be a lever for regime change in Tehran or agents of chaos?
0:46.0	Or will they just be left out to dry?
1:02.4	It's Thursday, March 5th, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WVUR.
1:03.5	I'm Chris Bentley.
1:14.4	Today on the show, a retired Navy admiral says the U.S. attacked Iran without a clear plan for what happens next politically. We're going to have to turn to an existing probably IRGC leader, one we haven't killed, to temporarily and potentially permanently lead the country going forward.
1:27.9	Also, we'll get a rare view from Tehran.
1:31.4	Who are you to change our regime?
1:34.0	How can you consider for yourself that you have this authority to go and decide for the other nations?
1:42.6	Life inside Iran under bombardment by the U.S. and Israel coming up in about 15 minutes.
1:49.1	But first, on day six of the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran, most of the strikes are coming from the air,
1:56.0	bombs, missiles, drones, but there's growing speculation about what could happen on the ground,
2:02.4	specifically along Iran's northwestern border, where Kurdish fighters have long opposed the Iranian
2:08.4	government. The Kurds are a stateless ethnic group of mostly Sunni Muslims who live in a
2:14.1	mountainous region they call Kurdistan, which spans parts of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria.
2:20.5	Some Kurdish groups based in Iraq are reportedly preparing units that could cross into Iran,
2:26.4	and observers wonder if President Trump might see the Kurds as a tool for regime change in Iran.
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