Your Iran Questions, Answered

I started GOLDA in response to the waves of people who after October 7th were asking me where to get things like beautiful Jewish jewelry and modern Judaica—the stuff that makes a meaningful Jewish life. I love that GOLDA has become the go-to place for Jewish trend-spotting, designer spotlights, cultural conversations, and everyday inspiration. But I also know that in our current moment, our concerns go beyond the material.

This week, friends and readers have been asking me about one thing: Iran. What do the attacks mean for Israel, where we’re seeing footage of friends and family running to bomb shelters at all hours as Iran sends missiles in response? How will the Middle East power dynamics be reshaped after America and Israel took out Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top political figures, and also as Iran’s counterattack targeted gulf neighbors beyond just Israel? And what does it all mean for us here in the U.S.?

Anytime major news breaks, the person I text is Gabby Deutch, the senior national correspondent at Jewish Insider. She’s been covering a lot of different angles of this latest round of fighting in the Middle East. I asked her if she would answer some questions for all of us and she graciously agreed. So today, in lieu of a shopping guide or culture picks, I’m sharing our conversation.

Gabby, thank you for helping us make sense of what’s going on in the Middle East right now. It’s Thursday morning in the U.S… Where do things stand? 

It’s clear by now that something big is happening in Iran. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed early in the joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. The U.S. and Israel—and many other countries—are heralding his death as a major victory because of his role in leading a theocracy that targets dissenters and religious minorities, and that has supported violent terrorists around the world. The key question, one that remains unanswered, is what happens next. Iran responded by attacking U.S. allies throughout the region, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other Arab countries. At least six American soldiers have died so far and at least 10 people have been killed as a result of Iranian attacks on Israel. The State Department is urging Americans who live in or are traveling in the Middle East to try to evacuate however they can. Americans who are in Israel are being told to try to leave through Egypt. It’s all quite precarious, and the situation is changing moment by moment. 

The surprise American and Israeli attack on the Ayatollah and his regime comes after brutal crackdowns against anti-government protestors. What was the climate in Iran in the days and weeks leading up to this attack? 

In 2022, a mass protest movement known as the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement demanded more freedoms for women and offered a powerful challenge to the regime, though it ultimately ended with repression and few, if any, changes. But starting in late December of last year, a new wave of protests swept across Iran, led primarily by shopkeepers at the Tehran bazaar protesting the country’s poor economy. The Iranian regime responded with massive force, killing thousands of protestors; some local sources put the death toll as high as 30,000. When the brutal crackdown began back in January, that’s when the first whisperings of a possible U.S. attack on Iran started. Instead, the U.S. and Iran began negotiations, and the last few weeks were a will-they-won’t-they as President Donald Trump considered how to respond. 

Taking out the Ayatollah is a major geopolitical move. What does it mean for the future of the region, for Israel, and for the United States?

Even opponents of the U.S. strikes are celebrating the demise of the Ayatollah, who openly sought the destruction of both America and Israel. His death is a powerful blow to the religious Islamic regime that has governed Iran since 1979. But it doesn’t necessarily mean—yet—that there will be a new regime in place. This week, Israel attacked the meeting of the council that was selecting Iran’s next supreme leader. That said, there’s no indication yet that a new governing force will rise up, or who that government might consist of. Plenty of other people in positions of power in Iran agree with the Ayatollah’s hardline views, so it’s not a sure thing that something else will emerge in their place. 

All the Israelis I know—plus everyone there I follow on Instagram—have been running in and out of the shelters since the attack started overnight on Saturday. Flights have been suspended, friends who were on trips to Israel are stranded there. In some ways that has become a routine occurrence post-10/7, but this seems very different. How bad are things in Israel? And what kind of timeframe do you think we’re looking at? 

This moment calls to mind the immediate days after Oct. 7, or the 12-day war between Israel and Iran last summer, which stranded scores of tourists and brought us memorable scenes like the party cruise that ferried Birthright participants to Cyprus. We’re in a similar situation now. But Iran’s response to the U.S. and Israeli strikes over the past few days is more serious than last summer, and more widespread, affecting a bigger swath of the Middle East. That means that it might be harder for people to leave Israel via other countries as a stopping point. Israeli airspace is closed until at least next week, although some flights bringing stranded Israelis back to the country may start arriving on Thursday. 

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem is not currently evacuating Americans in Israel. Israel’s Ministry of Tourism is running shuttle service for tourists to the Taba Border Crossing with Egypt, but the Embassy said individuals must make their own decision about whether or not to use it. 

Israelis have, to a certain extent, gotten used to being in a war zone, although it’s clear people are fatigued by all of it. Purim celebrations across the country were canceled for the most part, but there are some amazing videos of people in full costume reading the Megillah earlier this week in bomb shelters. Trump has said the U.S. campaign may continue for a month, though it could be longer—or shorter. All of which is to say, no one really knows. This is something new. 

It feels like the Arab world is uniting against Iran in an unprecedented way. Are there implications for future normalization efforts, or is this a short-term development? 

It’s a little too early to say exactly what the implications will be. But the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, the first two countries to join the Abraham Accords in 2020, have also been attacked by Iran, with the UAE facing heavy strikes from Iran. That could bring Israel and the UAE closer together. We’ve also seen the UAE and Saudi Arabia band together to condemn Iran and put aside a feud that had been simmering between the two once-close Gulf nations in recent months. 

Meanwhile, I know a lot of people who are confused by the mixed signals they’re getting, primarily across social media. We see footage of Iranians in Iran and the U.S. cheering the news of the Ayatollah’s demise, alongside sharp criticism of the operation and its two representatives, Trump and Netanyahu. How do you explain the many mediated layers of what we’re seeing online? 

Understandably, there’s a lot of debate about what’s going on. Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, gave a speech this week noting that some American Jews will be upset by what they see as Trump taking military action to effect regime change in Iran or to advance his own political ends; others will cheer the strikes, eager to see the Ayatollah eliminated and the threat of a nuclear Iran further diminished. Many Iranians in the U.S. and around the world who fled the country after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 took to the streets this weekend to celebrate. Reasonable people can disagree about the merits of this military campaign. 

It’s been unnerving to see so much anti-Israel sentiment bubbling over in response to news of the bombing. It feels like we’ve reached a new frontier, even for the heightened post-10/7 landscape. Does that track with your reporting, and what do you think the longer-term impact will be for us here in the U.S.? 

As I said above, people are entitled to all different opinions on what’s now happening in Iran. But I’ve been concerned to see some conspiratorial rhetoric saying Trump is a puppet of Netanyahu, and that the U.S. is only getting involved in this war to serve Netanyahu and to put “Israel first,” as if he has manipulated or tricked the U.S. into doing his bidding. That narrative is spreading fast, and I fear it’ll get worse the longer this campaign lasts. 

What are some outlets and sources we should be sure to follow along with for reliable updates? 

I’m biased, but a good place to start your morning is always Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff newsletter, where my colleagues and I are reporting on the developments in the war and, importantly, their impact on the U.S. and within American politics. Times of Israel is always great for minute-by-minute developments about what’s happening in Israel. There’s a lot of misinformation out there, so people should pay close attention to their news sources—ask yourself when you see a viral video if it’s reporting facts, or if it’s playing into your emotions. Always, always take a beat before you share anything.

I’m grateful to Gabby for taking time to answer these questions. You can follow her reporting here.

We’ll be back in your inboxes next week with some exciting news.

Stay GOLDA,

Stephanie