Civilians look at the remains of residential and commercial buildings, March 21, 2026, in the Shahrak-e Gharb neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The building was hit days earlier amid U.S. and Israeli attacks, resulting in several civilian deaths and missing persons, Iranian officials said. Majid Saeedi/Getty

Before the U.S. and Israel launched their joint attacks on Iran 25 days ago, many Iranians said they would welcome foreign intervention if it meant the end of the Islamic Republic. The regime, in power for 47 years, had just crushed a huge wave of anti-government demonstrations, with President Trump claiming more than 30,000 were killed and vowing to come to the rescue of the protesters.

Now, two Iranians — one inside and one outside the country — tell CBS News the feeling of optimism has shifted markedly after more than three weeks of war.

"If we had a world situation where Europe and the rest of the world was more orchestrated and together, collectively, with a plan that combined a number of things, both force and diplomacy and sanctions and discussions, all kinds of things — long-term plan — then that could have worked with this regime," said Reza, a British-Iranian whose name CBS News has changed to protect his identity. "But to just have one or two countries, you know, unilaterally going in without a proper plan? It's never gonna work. So that's why I think people are waking up to that rude awakening, realization, that they're doomed, basically."

Reza, who is in the U.K., said he's spoken with many other Iranians in the diaspora who feel the same.

Iran is "really playing the upper hand on Trump, in that they realize he doesn't have a strategy. So they're really using that to their advantage to gain more strength and more forward planning with the Strait of Hormuz, and suffocating the world, because they know that's where the weakness of the whole entire world is, basically," Reza said.

Inside Iran, Amir — whose name has also been changed to protect his identity — echoed the sentiment.

"Many people that were pro-war, and they supposed war could be liberator, liberate them from the despotism in Iran and theocratic despotic regimes, now they are thinking twice and revising, and they are reaching for any moment ceasefire, no matter who is the boss. No matter who is the king," Amir said. "Anything that can say 'okay, enough is enough and there is a ceasefire until further notice.'"

Amir said he was anticipating "hellish weeks to come," with both the Iranian regime and the Trump administration falling back, in his view, on "brinkmanship."

Meanwhile, opposition groups in Iran "do not have [a] viable and functional coalition to move even a finger," Amir said, casting doubt on calls by the Trump administration and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for Iranians to take advantage of the ongoing strikes to rise up and topple the regime from within.

In Amir's view, it appears that Mr. Trump "cannot find an exit door from the mess."

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