Hooman Majd comes from a family that reads like a parable about modern Iran: a grandfather who was an ayatollah, an uncle who worked for the Shah, and a folk-singing aunt. Everyone’s family has a version of this, right?

-Iran is a tragedy

-the sense of triumph has already faded

-is Hooman happy the Supreme Leader was killed?

-Trump’s motive: regime change, or only regime adjustment?

-a ring of fire around Israel

-hijab mandates, strict social rules, and the morality police using facial recognition

-did the 1979 Islamic Revolution fail on its own terms?

-MEK is a cult

-is there room for a homegrown anti-regime revolution, or does war smother it?

-who ends up in the IRGC?

-the girls’ school bombing, and the propaganda machine

-internet shutdowns, VPN life, and tweeting through a war

-if you want to be an authoritarian, you cannot tolerate a free press

-how to consume war info without getting played

-outlets reporting on the new Ayatollah

-sanctions: efficacy, blowback, and who they actually punish

-Can Iran function like a normal state, and can it have workable relations with Israel?

-Oct. 7 and Iran’s role

-concerns about civil war

-the mullah stereotype

-“translating” for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

-death threats, anonymous phone calls, and “don’t ever come back”

-defending against charges of being a regime apologist

Buy Minister Without Portfolio: Memoir of a Reluctant Exile (Bookshop | Amazon)

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