Efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to the US-Iranian standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program are continuing apace. However, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remains implacably opposed to any concessions.

Iranian historian Arash Azizi discusses the suffering of ordinary Iranians and outlines the scenarios that could unfold as the regime faces its gravest threat since the 1979 Revolution.

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The Kurds of northeast Syria have suffered a series of humiliating setbacks over the past month, losing more than 80% of the territory they once controlled to central government forces. A US-mediated truce averted a potential bloodbath. Meghan Bodette of the Kurdish Peace Institute says new opportunities may be emerging, but ordinary Kurds expect their leaders to acknowledge the mistakes that led them here.

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UK historian Christopher de Bellaige says Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will fight till the bitter end as will the formidable Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp. But their success is no longer guaranteed amid threats of US intervention and a new generation of young and fearless protestors bent on their fall.

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