Iranians Feel the War Is ‘Closing In,’ and Bondi Is Said to Move Because of Threats

Summary

The Headlines – Episode Summary

Date: March 11, 2026
Host: Tracy Mumford (The New York Times)
Main Theme:
An exploration of widening impacts from the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, the increasing sense of siege within Iran, the security-driven relocation of high-profile US officials, new research on home insurance disparities linked to credit scores, and mounting parental concern over classroom screen time.

---

Key Storyline 1: The Escalating Iran Conflict and Global Oil Shock

Overview:

• The Trump administration underestimated Iran’s military and economic capacity to respond to attacks, particularly in disrupting oil shipping and influencing world markets.
• Recent events have caused commercial shipping to halt in the Persian Gulf, with oil prices spiking and global markets plunged into uncertainty.

Key Points:

• Administration’s early confidence:
  • Energy Secretary Chris Wright previously downplayed the risk of a conflict affecting oil supplies, referencing last June’s tensions when disruption was minimal.
  • Many advisers believed targeting Iranian leadership would pacify the regime, which proved incorrect.
• The White House response:
  • Wright falsely claimed the Navy had escorted tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, briefly calming markets ([00:35]–[01:52]), but retracted after the claim was challenged, reigniting market volatility.
  • President Trump’s own frustration surfaced in a Fox News comment:

    “These ships should go through the Strait of Hormuz and show some guts. There’s nothing to be afraid of. They have no navy. We sunk all their ships.”
    — President Trump ([02:10])

• Military assessment:
  • Interviews reveal divisions: some predicted Iran’s aggressive response, while others were certain the regime would collapse or de-escalate.
  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth conceded the administration underestimated the scale of Iran’s regional aggression but stressed that Iranian capacity is dwindling:

    “The last 24 hours have seen Iran fire the lowest number of missiles they’ve been capable of firing yet.”
    — Pete Hegseth ([03:16])

---

Key Storyline 2: The War’s Human Toll Inside Iran

Overview:

• Daily life in Iranian cities, especially Tehran, is marked by fear and anxiety as air strikes intensify and civilians feel increasingly besieged.

Key Points:

• Farnaz Fasihi, Times correspondent, relays firsthand accounts of panic and insecurity:

  “Every night seems to be the most intense experience that they’ve had. The bombs seem to sound closer, the explosions are louder, and the sense of panic… is that the war is really just closing in.”
  — Farnaz Fasihi ([03:30])

• A sense of being trapped:
  • Civilians see attacks spreading beyond military targets to oil, gas, and even cultural sites.
  • Heavy security presences and constant ID checks feed a climate of fear, with no signs the regime is nearing collapse:

    “They’re caught between a regime that stops at nothing for its own survival and a campaign of airstrikes that’s landing massive bombs on their cities. And they don’t know how this is gonna end.”
    — Farnaz Fasihi ([04:08])

---

Key Storyline 3: US Officials Relocate for Security

Overview:

• High-ranking Trump administration officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, have quietly shifted to military housing in D.C. due to threats stemming from their roles.

Key Points:

• Bondi’s move traced to increased threats after the US captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and ongoing criticism over the Epstein investigation ([05:19]).
• She joins other officials (Stephen Miller, Marco Rubio, Kristi Noem) moving into secure, taxpayer-funded facilities.
• Historians note this is unprecedented for so many civilian political appointees.

---

Key Storyline 4: Credit Scores and Home Insurance Inequality

Overview:

• New research highlights how homeowners with weaker credit histories pay substantially more—sometimes up to 12 times more—for insurance.

Key Points:

• Two similar homes in northern Minnesota: owner with higher score pays $1,200/year, the other pays $2,900.
• Disparity is especially stark for those with “fair” or “poor” credit ([06:45]).
• Some states (California, Massachusetts) restrict use of credit in insurance pricing due to fairness concerns.
• Consumer advocate quote:

  “When the government and the financial system mandate that we buy a product, there’s a special obligation to make sure, the pricing is fair.” — Insurance expert ([07:55])

---

Key Storyline 5: Parents and the Classroom Screen-Time Dilemma

Overview:

• While parent concerns about digital media’s impact on children grow, classroom screen use is on the rise and proving hard for families to curb.

Key Points:

• Schools now introduce devices as early as kindergarten; 81% of surveyed elementary teachers say their students receive devices ([09:10]).
• Devices intended for learning are commonly used for entertainment:

  “My first grader was watching Taylor Swift music videos in the middle of the day.” — Parent ([09:10])

• American Academy of Pediatrics urges screens be limited to educational, critical thinking tasks.
• A telling anecdote:

  “If you like what you saw, click below to subscribe.” — Kindergartner mimicking a YouTube host ([09:53])

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• President Trump on tankers’ bravery ([02:10])
  "These ships should go through the Strait of Hormuz and show some guts. There's nothing to be afraid of. They have no navy. We sunk all their ships."
• Farnaz Fasihi on Iranian civilians’ anxiety ([03:30]–[04:08])
  "The sense of panic that I'm getting from the messages and phone calls is that the war is really just closing in."
• Insurance expert on fairness ([07:55])
  "When the government and the financial system mandate that we buy a product, there's a special obligation to make sure, the pricing is fair."
• Kindergartner’s YouTube imitation ([09:53])
  "If you like what you saw, click below to subscribe."

---

Timestamps for Critical Segments

• 00:35 — Oil shock & administration missteps
• 02:01 — President Trump’s frustration and military calculus
• 03:30 — Inside Iran: Civilian fear and daily life
• 05:19 — Bondi and officials moving for security
• 06:45 — Credit scores deeply impact home insurance rates
• 09:10 — Parental pushback against classroom screen time

---

Summary

This episode of The Headlines offers a multi-layered look at the growing consequences of US military engagement with Iran, highlighting diminishing US control over oil markets, unanticipated resilience and trauma within Iranian society, heightened security measures for American officials, persistent inequities in home insurance, and a new parental battleground over digital devices in schools. The reporting boils down complex, urgent news into personal stories, trenchant analysis, and sharp glimpses of how national and global crises ripple outward—sometimes in unexpected, deeply human ways.

Transcript

[AG Sulzberger]

This is AG Sulzberger. I'm the publisher of the New York Times and I'm also a former reporter who's watched with a lot of alarm as our profession has shrunk in recent years. Normally, this is where I'd ask you to subscribe to the Times, but today I'm encouraging you to support any news organization that's dedicated to original reporting, whether that's your local newspaper, a national paper, or the New York Times. What matters most is that you subscribe to a real news organization doing firsthand fact based reporting. And if you already do, thank you.

[Tracy Mumford]

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Wednesday, March 11th. Here's what we're covering. The Times has learned new details about how the Trump administration miscalculated how Iran would react to the war, both in the scale of its response and and how it would shake the global economy. Before the attacks began, the Energy secretary, Chris Wright said publicly he was not concerned a war would disrupt oil sales, pointing to the 12 day conflict with Iran last June when there was little disruption. Some of Trump's other advisers shared similar views in private, dismissing warnings that Iran could choke off the Strait of Hormuz that carries roughly 20% of the world's oil supply. But that is exactly what's happened now. Commercial shipping's come to a standstill in the Gulf. Oil prices have spiked, and the administration's been scrambling to find ways to tamp down the crisis. Yesterday, the stock market loved it when Wright posted on social media that the navy had successfully escorted a tanker through the troubled strait. Oil markets were reassured. He then deleted the post after administration officials said no escorts had taken place and markets once again went into turmoil.

[Brian]

So, Brian, you did a phone interview with the president. United. What is his read on this? So I asked him, how do you get that? How do you get the prices down? I know how much you care about oil and gas.

[Tracy Mumford]

And he says President Trump himself has been frustrated by the situation. At one point earlier this week, he told Fox News that oil tanker crews should just go straight through.

[Brian]

Here's exactly what he said. These ships should go through the Strait of Hormuz and show some guts. There's nothing to be afraid of. They have no navy. We sunk all their ships.

[Tracy Mumford]

In interviews with a dozen US Officials who asked for anonymity to discuss private conversations, the Times learned some military advisers did warn that Iran could launch an aggressive campaign in response to the US Israeli attack. But other advisors were confident that taking out Iran's senior leadership, like Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first wave of strikes, would lead to more pragmatic leaders who wouldn't keep a conflict going.

[Pete Hegseth]

Big mistake by the Iranian regime to start targeting its neighbors. Indiscriminate targeting, flailing recklessly. I can't say that we anticipated necessarily that's exactly how they would react, but we knew it was a possibility.

[Tracy Mumford]

Yesterday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth acknowledged that the Pentagon had not expected Iran to carry out as many strikes as it has on other countries throughout the Middle East. But he insisted it would backfire on them. And he said Iran's attacks are now slowing.

[Pete Hegseth]

The last 24 hours have seen Iran fire the lowest number of missiles they've been capable of firing yet.

[Tracy Mumford]

In contrast, Hegseth said the US Was launching more strikes than ever.

[Farnaz Fasihi]

Meanwhile, every night in the middle of the night In Tehran, my WhatsApp starts buzzing with text messages from friends, from family who have access to Internet, sometimes even from sour, saying that the airstrikes are really intense. Every night seems to be the most intense experience that they've had. The bombs seem to sound closer, the explosions are louder, and the sense of panic that I'm getting from the messages and phone calls is that the war is really just closing in.

[Tracy Mumford]

My colleague Farnaz Fasihi, who has covered Iran for more than two decades, says many people there feel helpless and trapped.

[Farnaz Fasihi]

People are saying that what terrifies them is that the war seems to not only be targeting the Islamic Republic's military and government infrastructure, but now it's expanding to oil refineries, gas depots, cultural sites. Some people were hopeful that maybe the war would bring an end to this regime, but that doesn't seem to be happening on the ground. I hear that in Tehran, at least, there's very heavy presence of security on the ground. Their checkpoints all over the place where they're searching cars and asking for ID cards. So people are not yet seeing any signs that this regime is collapsing or anything like that. And that's a scary prospect. They're caught between a regime that stops at nothing for its own survival and a campaign of airstrikes that's landing massive bombs on their cities. And they don't know how this is gonna end. They don't know when this is gonna end. They don't know once this end, is their country going to be in ruins.

[Tracy Mumford]

In Washington, D.C. attorney General Pam Bondi has quietly moved from an apartment in the city to military housing because of safety concerns. According to sources familiar with the situation. One senior official said there have been growing threats since January, when the US Captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has been indicted by the Justice Department that Bondi leads. Bondi's also faced intense public criticism over how she's handled the Epstein investigation. A spokesman for Bondi did not comment on the matter. She is the latest Trump administration official to move into heavily guarded quarters at military facilities after citing danger from foreign adversaries, criminals and protesters. One of President Trump's top advisors, Stephen Miller, moved to a military base. So did Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the outgoing Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem. While members of past administrations have done that too, historians and former officials say the Trump administration is the first to provide this for so many political appointees with no direct connection to the military. It's unclear how much, if anything, officials are paying to live in the taxpayer funded accommodations. A spokesperson for Nome said she was paying, quote, fair market rent for the housing last year. Across the country, homeowners are almost always required to get insurance when they buy a house and get a mortgage. How much they pay for that can vary wildly based on location, risks like flooding, fire, et cetera. But new research shows just how much people's credit scores are also driving insurance rates way, way up. Two recent studies found that American homeowners with weaker credit histories, usually from things like missed payments or having a lot of debt, now pay significantly more for home insurance. For example, two friends in northern Minnesota bought nearly identical houses in the same neighborhood. The friend with the higher credit score pays about $1,200 a year for her insurance premium. The friend with the lower credit score pays about 2,900. Overall. Across the US people with what are deemed fair credit scores are often paying double what people with excellent scores are paying. In some places, the disparity can be even higher, with people who have poor credit paying up to 12 times more for certain policies, according to an advocacy group. Insurers have argued that it's worth considering credit history because people with low scores tend to file more claims, likely because they have less income so when their homes get damaged, they can't pay out of pocket or But a handful of states, including California and Massachusetts, have limited or banned insurers from using credit data out of concerns about fairness and the potential for discrimination against low income Americans and people of color. An insurance expert at a consumer advocacy group told the Times, quote, when the government and the financial system mandate that we buy a product, there's a special obligation to make sure, the pricing is fair. And finally, a lot of parents are trying to cut back on how much screen time their kids get. There's mounting evidence that screen time can contribute to anxiety and depression, can delay social and emotional skills, and decrease attention spans. But families are running into an unexpected their kids schools.

[Parent]

When I dropped off my son this morning, I noticed that the huge screen at the front of the classroom was already captivating the collective attention of of the children.

[Tracy Mumford]

Parents have been showing up at school board meetings across the country and lobbying principals for cutting back on screens in the classroom, where devices have become the everyday norm.

[Parent]

In many cases, addictive entertainment apps do not belong in the school day. YouTube, video games and other non educational

[Tracy Mumford]

Lots of kids have been given devices for educational purposes, but kids are kids. One parent told the Times she monitors her first grader's iPad activity while she's at school using an app and noticed she was watching Taylor Swift music videos in the middle of the day. The American Academy of Pediatrics has said that when students are using a screen, they should be engaged in critical thinking activities, not watching entertainment. The issue isn't going away anytime soon. 81% of elementary school teachers who were surveyed by the Times recently said that at their schools, students received devices in class by kindergarten. One parent said she didn't realize just how much content her daughter was watching in class until she tried to film a video of her dancing to send to her grandparents. At the end, the kindergartner looked into the camera and said, if you like what you saw, click below to subscribe. Those are the headlines today on the Daily More on how the war in the Middle east is threatening to upend the global energy supply. You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.