LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Iran is preparing for a possible attack after American elections next week. And the Israeli military is warning that it will launch strikes, quote, "out of proportion, stronger than you can ever imagine." So how is Iran responding to these threats? For that, we turn to NPR international correspondent in Istanbul, Hadeel Al-Shalchi. Good morning, Hadeel.
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: So what are we hearing from the Iranian government?
AL-SHALCHI: It's a really defiant tone. We've heard from Iran's security chief, from the president, that Iran is ready. The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has said repeatedly that Iran prefers diplomacy. But the foreign ministry's spokesperson said today that Iran will act, quote, "decisively" against any threats. Leila, I asked Iran expert Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft - if we were a fly on the wall in the Iranian leaders' meetings today, what would we hear? And he said, a lot of concern.
TRITA PARSI: They have very high confidence in their own capability of striking back, but that this ultimately will lead to a very bad situation for Iran and for the region and the future of Iran's relationship with many of its neighbors.
AL-SHALCHI: Of course, those neighbors include Gulf countries that have had to suffer the consequences of the war. Iran retaliates by targeting U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE - countries that are not built for this kind of attack.
FADEL: So we heard there that Iran is confident that it can respond militarily. Why is it so confident?
AL-SHALCHI: Well, even though it's been hit repeatedly by, you know, some of the most powerful militaries in the world, Iran's military is still functioning, and it's able to hit back. We know that damage has been done to Iran's military infrastructure, and we don't know exactly how badly it's been hit. But even though President Trump has claimed that most of it was destroyed after the first round of strikes, Iran came back even more forcefully in the second round. And even today, tankers on the Strait of Hormuz are still being targeted.
Parsi and others I've spoken to tell me that we have to consider that Iran's internal military supply chain is actually very robust. You know, Iran has had a defense production sector that has operated in isolation for more than 50 years. It still gets missile ingredients from China and Russia, so it could continue production of its arsenal. And, you know, also something Parsi told me that Trump has underestimated is the robustness of Iran's institutions.
PARSI: The Iranians have put into place a system that immediately replaces everyone and in which large parts of the military is operating independently. So even if central command and control collapses, these entities would continue to operate on their own.
AL-SHALCHI: So this has become a fight for the regime's existence. The system is created to resist and survive until it can't anymore.
FADEL: If the U.S. and Israel attack again, it is the people inside Iran who will feel that the most. What are you hearing from them?
AL-SHALCHI: They're tired. They're nervous. They're ready for the war to be over. Inflation has been hovering at almost 90% in Iran since the war started. The cost of bread, meat has skyrocketed. Medicine has become scarce, and schools have been interrupted frequently. You know, there's also been talk of hitting things like electricity grids this time. So life is really unbearable for so many inside Iran. And now people like 41-year-old Meysam Ali from eastern Tehran will have to bear bombings again.
MEYSAM ALI: (Speaking Persian).
AL-SHALCHI: "Uncertainty and anxiety," he says. His family may need to evacuate their home if his area is struck again, like in the last rounds. And, you know, I asked some of those people, who do you blame? And many of them at this point just don't care. The U.S., Israel, their own government - they just want it to end.
FADEL: NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Istanbul. Thank you, Hadeel.
AL-SHALCHI: You're welcome.
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