Iran is no stranger to survival battles. The brutality of the eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s; two decades of sanctions that upended the economy and countless bouts of street protests that have challenged its rule. It has always found a way to survive. But it has never faced anything close to the devastating air strikes from Israel and the US over the last five days.
At least 1,100 people have died already, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — the country’s ultimate authority until Saturday. Scores of buildings have been destroyed in Tehran and across the country. A strike on a girls’ school killed at least 168 ...