‘Don't be surprised if American warship sinks somewhere…’: Iran professor’s ominous warning to Trump

What does this war look like from inside Iran? On day five of the conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel, the battlefield narrative is only one side of the story. The other side is how the war is being seen - and explained - from Tehran itself. In this conversation, Professor Foad Izadi joins from Tehran to give a rare inside perspective. He argues that Washington may have underestimated the scale of Iran’s response and says the U.S. administration led by Donald Trump appears surprised by how forcefully Iran has retaliated. According to him, Iran has enough stockpiles to continue responding to U.S. and Israeli strikes - and the conflict could widen if diplomacy fails. We also ask him about one of the most alarming developments so far: the sinking of an Iranian military ship in the Indian Ocean that reportedly triggered panic in Sri Lanka. Does this signal a dangerous new phase in the war? The conversation also explores whether the United States could send ground troops into Iran and what such an invasion would actually look like in a country of Iran’s size and geography. There is also the political question inside Iran. With reports that Mojtaba Khamenei could emerge as a successor to Ali Khamenei, would Iran accept what critics call a “dynastic transition”? Finally, we ask a difficult question: can two things be true at the same time, that this war may be illegal, and that Iran’s regime faces accusations of repressing its own people? And with mediation calls emerging from Oman, is there still space left for diplomacy before the war spreads further?