Iran’s regime survived the war. Can it make peace with its own people?

Now war is over, the new generation of leadership confronts competing demands, from hardliners and an exhausted population. Photograph: Vahid Salemi/AP

The Islamic Republic regime in Iran may have survived the war, but it now faces an even greater challenge: making peace with its own population.

Iranians are reeling not just from the shock of the war but also the killing of thousands of protesters by the authorities at the start of the year, and an economy in free fall. Instead of removing the regime, an initial declared aim of Donald Trump and the Israeli leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, the war showcased the Islamic Republic’s durability after its leader and layers of other top officials were killed.