Six days ago, in the early hours of Saturday morning, the Iranian regime was decapitated. In a joint military attack, the U.S. and Israel struck military sites across the country, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, alongside dozens of senior Iranian leaders. “When we are finished, take over your government,” President Donald Trump urged the Iranians in the hours after the operation. “It will be yours to take.”
Then Iran started fighting back.
The regime’s retaliatory strikes have targeted Israel and U.S. installations across the Middle East, and countries across the region, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, and Azerbaijan. In Kuwait, an Iranian drone strike killed six U.S. Army Reserve service members—the first American casualties of the war. According to Trump, “there will likely be more before it ends.”
At home in the United States, polls show the public is skeptical of the war, with just one in four saying they back the strikes. Some Trump supporters who backed him for his pledge to end overseas conflicts now fear that the country is sliding into another war. Others argue the opposite: that decisive, overwhelming force may prevent a far larger conflict later.
A week in, much remains unclear: How long could this war last? Could Iran slide into civil war? What kind of government might emerge after the fighting? How have the strikes changed the balance of power in the Middle East? And what does it mean for the world order?
To help us make sense of these questions and more, we asked a range of Free Press contributors—some skeptical of the war, others supportive—what they learned from what has been a seismic week. Here’s what they had to say.
