Things have been bad for Arash, a storekeeper in Bandar Abbas, since Israel and the US began bombing his country in late February.
“I can barely even cover the rent for my shop. My sales have dropped 70 percent compared to before the war,” said the 20-something, who owns a clothing store in the Iranian port city. “People only have money left for food, water, and electricity. Nobody can afford to buy clothes anymore… The country’s economic situation has fallen into a mega-crisis.”
Like other Iranians who spoke to The Times of Israel, Arash said the fighting had not only left them and most of their countrymen poorer, but also more isolated and no less oppressed by the regime they had hoped the conflict would bring down.
With US President Donald Trump on the cusp of agreeing to a deal with the rulers in Tehran that reports indicate will end the fighting while freeing up billions of dollars for the regime, five residents of Iran described widespread unemployment and economic hardship, tighter surveillance and targeting of dissidents, and further restricted internet access since the war’s start.
Despite this fallout, the respondents, who all said they participated in past anti-regime protests, called on Israel and the US to renew their campaign, in the hopes that doing so would defeat the regime for good.
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“The war did not reach its full conclusion,” said Arash, who is referred to here by a pseudonym, like the others. “Making peace with these criminals means handing the future back to them. They will rebuild themselves again and massacre the people once more. After the Trump administration ends, America may never again [fight] Iran,” he said.
A Shia Muslim cleric waves while riding with his bride in a military jeep in a mass wedding ceremony as part of the Iranian government’s ‘Janfada’ (‘Sacrifice for Iran’) campaign, at Imam Hossein Square in Tehran, Iran, on May 18, 2026. (AFP)
The five Iranians answered questions from The Times of Israel sent via multiple anti-regime activists living in the United Kingdom and Canada. The respondents provided written and recorded accounts in Farsi on condition of anonymity, as communication with foreign media, especially Israeli, puts them at risk of severe punishment, including execution.
Their accounts and identities could not be independently verified. Nonetheless, they potentially offer a rare glimpse into how some Iranian civilians have experienced the war and its aftermath.
‘Unfinished’ war
All five respondents said they had initially welcomed the Israeli and US bombing campaign with hopes that it would ultimately end the regime’s rule. With the ceasefire reached on April 8, that hope turned into fear that the Islamic Republic, wounded but intact, would remain in power indefinitely.
Kaveh, a teacher in his 40s living in Isfahan, said, “I was satisfied with the beginning of the war, but I am absolutely not satisfied with stopping it and leaving the matter unfinished… Most Iranians who oppose the Islamic regime supported the war, fully aware of the conditions and consequences.”
The regime is not just [Ali] Khamenei — the rest of it is still in place.
Rostam, a university student in Tehran, said he supported “war for the overthrow of the murderous Islamic Republic,” and was “disappointed” by the truce because “this government only understands the language of force.”
“The [Iranian] people are dissatisfied with the government and…want the formation of a national and democratic government that would be friendly toward America and Israel, and under which people could live with prosperity and progress. Right now, we are living under complete suffocation,” Rostam said.
Kian, an IT worker living in Karaj, claimed that “the majority of Iranians have moved beyond short-term thinking, meaning that in any conflict, their main demand is simply the removal of the regime from power.”
He said he “had expected the Islamic Republic to collapse [very] soon” after the war began — a result he believed would have made the chaotic fallout worth it for many — and therefore, when “the ceasefire was announced, it felt like a mockery of people who had fled in fear for their lives.”
A man walks past an anti-Israel mural in downtown Tehran, Iran, on May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Anti-regime activists had called on the US, and often on Israel as well, to use military force to back popular protests that had erupted against the country’s rulers in January, which Trump had threatened to do in response to a devastating crackdown. When the bombing did commence on February 28, it kicked off with a strike that killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei and many of his top officials.
But while both Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the campaign was aimed at creating the conditions for the leadership to be toppled, neither fully backed regime change as an explicit goal of the fighting.
All five respondents who spoke to The Times of Israel claimed the vast majority of Iranians oppose the regime and want it overthrown — a stance that is difficult to measure in a country where polling is restricted, dissent is criminalized, and internet access has been repeatedly curtailed.
Nasrin, a 35-year-old from the northernmost part of Iran, said that while some 10% of Iranians still support the regime, ordinary Iranians are visibly infuriated with the current government. “If you just walk through the streets, you can clearly see how angry honorable, ordinary people are over these people remaining in power,” she said. “I hope Trump and Netanyahu do something for these people.”
While there has been visible rallying behind the regime in reaction to the war, Kaveh believed that “the war against the Islamic Republic has not increased Iranian support for the Islamic regime. The minority of 10-15% who support or work for the regime is still the same percentage — perhaps even somewhat smaller because of the severe economic crisis.”
US President Donald Trump speaks during a Fighting For American Workers event, May 22, 2026, in Suffern, New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Different names, same regime
While Trump has insisted that eliminating Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials effectively amounted to regime change, respondents rejected that framing outright.
“I completely disagree with Trump’s view [about effective regime change]. This regime is still standing,” Kaveh said. “The regime is still being run by the same [type of] people. Only the names have changed! Its structure is exactly the same as before.”
Rostam charged that “Trump backed down and lost his nerve!”
“The regime is not just Khamenei — the rest of it is still in place. [It] still has the same determination and forces for killing the people,” he said.
According to analysts, Iran’s hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a military group loyal to the country’s ruling clerics, has become the main nexus of power in Tehran.
Experts have assessed that the IRGC, and not the newly elected Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, has dominated wartime government policy, in the absence of a decisive or authoritative leader.
“What regime change?!” Arash said. “The Revolutionary Guards own and rule the Islamic Republic — and the Guards are still standing right where they were!”
An Iranian woman holds a poster bearing the portraits of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei (L) and of his son, the country’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, during the funerals of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commanders, army commanders, and others killed in the early days of the United States and Israeli strikes on Iran, at Enghelab Square in Tehran, Iran, on March 11, 2026. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)
While the regime remained intact, some of the residents did report signs of weakness.
Nasrin noted that while the IRGC appeared to be “running things,” she perceived a vastly weakened regime compensating for its losses by mobilizing desperate recruits across cities. “The regime and the IRGC [have] become 80% weaker. Now they’re gathering poor, desperate people who maybe didn’t even have dinner to eat, and giving them masks and weapons so they can stand against the people. Overall, in each city, I think they may have 3,000 or 4,000 [recruits] — not more than that. Maybe in Tehran they have 10,000.”
Kian said that while the Islamic Republic “has not changed,” he did observe that the IRGC and the Basij paramilitary had been curbed by damage it suffered in the war, as well as internal disputes.
“Public security forces such as the police do not even have proper facilities or organization. The IRGC has brought military-grade weapons into the streets in an attempt to spread fear,” he said. “The Basij forces have also become divided, and some members internally oppose the current policies.”
‘No window to the outside world’
The war has not softened the regime’s approach to dissent. If anything, the respondents said, it has given authorities new cover to intensify the countrywide government crackdown that began in response to widespread protests earlier this year.
The conflict has led the Islamic Republic to further treat “society less as a population to be governed and more as a security threat to be contained,” said Saeid Golkar, an Iran expert and associate professor at the University of Tennessee.
A bridge struck by US airstrikes is seen in the town of Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
“Since the war began, repression has become harsher, but also more digital,” he said, explaining that the regime “has expanded internet shutdowns, selective access, AI-based monitoring, forced loyalty displays, and pressure on citizens to provide personal information to regain online access,” while also making Iran “among the world’s leading execution states” with increased political prosecutions.
The respondents all said they had witnessed random arrests and regime intimidation, along with limits on internet access.
“This regime will continue killing the people of Iran until it itself is killed,” Arash said. “Right now, it is more prepared than ever before to kill unarmed Iranians. It is also executing our imprisoned youth to terrorize the people into submission.”
Because of the war… [the regime] responds to even the smallest protest by abducting people and killing them.
Nasrin, a 35-year-old from the northernmost part of Iran, who said many friends of hers were killed or injured in this year’s widespread protests, said: “America and Israel need to finish these people off, because everything here has become worse and worse, and they continue running wild… Every day there are checkpoints. Every day there’s fear.”
Kaveh said that “using [the war] as a pretext, the wounded clerical regime responds to even the smallest protest by abducting people and killing them. [Regime forces] can kidnap anyone from their home or workplace under accusations of cooperating with hostile governments, opposition activity, or seeking regime overthrow — and once taken, the chances of surviving are very low.”
A screenshot of a video purporting to show an Iranian child recruit to the IRGC’s Basij militia wearing a military uniform and carrying a rifle, seen in Shariati Square, Mashhad, Iran, March 30, 2026. (Telegram / used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Kian said that since the ceasefire, “the regime intensified its crackdown on the people and protesters, carrying out continuous executions and torture.” Repressive forces remain operational despite suffering military damage and have even relocated to schools and hospitals.
“In terms of military repression, killing, and stealing the resources of the Iranian people, [the regime] is still strong and stable… A single IRGC member with a Kalashnikov can suppress a street of 200 protesters! Because of the widespread bombing of bases and Basij [paramilitary force] centers, they are in a weak position geographically. But they have moved their command centers into schools and hospitals,” he said.
Alongside physical repression, the war has brought near-total digital isolation. Iran imposed a nationwide internet blackout on January 8, 2026, at the height of the winter protests, and started a second near-total shutdown on February 28 when the US-Israeli strikes commenced. Access is now limited to those on a white list and with the means for an expensive regime-controlled device, or the few who can afford to get online via pricey VPN services.
Kaveh said that VPNs are now “extremely expensive,” and he gets online only a few minutes a day. “The money from these VPNs also ends up in the pockets of the IRGC. Other than through satellite television, almost no window to the outside world remains open to us through the internet,” he said.
Iranian police special forces stand guard during a funeral procession for Alireza Tangsiri, head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, and others killed in Israeli strikes in late March, in Tehran, Iran, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Rostam said internet access had become far more expensive, and claimed that what was available was used to promote regime disinformation campaigns.
“The internet has turned into an unsolvable crisis for us. Proxies/VPNs are more expensive than before and do not work well either. Only the cyber forces and unrestricted SIM cards used by propagandists still function, and they are focused on discouraging people and spreading the false impression that the regime remains powerful,” he said.
Nasrin said that “many satellite channels are cut off” and that “some of the people selling VPNs are scammers we don’t know, and they’re constantly exploiting people.”
“We now get mobile phone bills every week. The telecommunications company constantly sends messages saying, ‘Pay the bill or your service will be disconnected.’ It’s absurd,” she said.
‘Crushed’ by inflation
Economically, “the war has deepened an already severe crisis caused by sanctions, corruption, inflation, and mismanagement,” Golkar said, noting that many basic items’ prices have more than doubled in recent months due to inflation.
Respondents noted how business closures, layoffs, currency decline, and internet restrictions have damaged their livelihoods.
People leave their homes after collecting some of their belongings at a residential compound that was hit in a US-Israeli strike while they had been sheltering elsewhere, in Tehran, Iran, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Nasrin said she and many friends were unemployed due to the war.
“The war has caused this anti-Iranian regime to put even more economic pressure on the people through unemployment and hardship. Theft has increased. Only their own mercenaries are doing well. Goods and food become more expensive every day. Some products are also in short supply,” Rostam said.
Kaveh, the teacher in Isfahan, described continued disruption of schooling, bank access, and social services: “The problems the government had already created because of the structural incompetence of the system became many times worse during the war. Mismanagement, systematic theft from the people, rising costs of energy, food, medicine, and the near-total collapse of social services have all intensified.”
“The Islamic Republic had already effectively shut down or semi-shut down schools and universities before the war because of student protests. That shutdown continues now as well. At some bank branches, people are not given cash at all, or only up to a limited amount. Some bank branches practically do nothing anymore,” he said.
Nasrin added that routine had somewhat returned during the truce, but inflation still weighed heavily. The Iranian toman, introduced to mask hyperinflation of the rial, has dropped in value by some 16% against the dollar since January.
“The stores are open, the banks are open, schools have gone back to remote learning — but what’s the point?” she asked. “The banks offer no real assistance, and goods that used to cost 50 tomans now cost 140,000 tomans. Prices have multiplied several times over, and every day people are being crushed under the burden of inflation.”
Illustrative: A woman walks past a pro-government mural in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Several respondents reported that the prices of store-bought products could easily rise between the morning and evening of a single day.
“Beyond the material hardship,” Golkar added, “there is now a deep sense of despair and hopelessness [in Iran]. This is especially visible among young people.”
“The war has strengthened two trends at once: more coercion from above and more suffering below,” he continued. “The regime is using the war to justify repression, but the war is also making daily life much harder for the same society it wants to control. It has produced not only poverty and fear, but also a widespread feeling that the future has been stolen.”