Hi there.
I'm Jessica Mendoza.
I just wanted to introduce myself.
I'm the co-host of the Journal podcast.
I live in Washington, D.C.
On Tuesday afternoon, I opened up WhatsApp to record a voice note,
a message to a man in Tehran, one of many people inside Iran that our reporters
have been able to speak to in recent weeks.
I wanted to know how people there were feeling this week,
as the world counted down to a Tuesday night deadline set by President Trump.
He was threatening to strike Iran's power plants, bridges, and other critical infrastructure,
and warning in a social media post that, quote,
a whole civilization will die tonight if Iran did n't reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Within minutes, my WhatsApp pinged.
The man had responded.
Reporter Hamraz Bayan translated for both of us, in Farsi and English.
Hello, I'm 38 years old.
I'm a civil engineer and I manage construction projects.
Alongside that, my wife and I run a cafe and a restaurant.
There were a few hours till the deadline and he was at home with friends,