What does the Islamic Republic really want? As the US imposes a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz in order to ratchet up the pressure on Iran, the two sides still seem intent on trying to find a way to make negotiations work and to bring an end to this destructive war that's affected so many in the region and worldwide. The question is, who is making the decisions inside of Iran? And what do they really want?

We know what the US says it wants. It wants the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and it wants Iran to vow never to seek a nuclear weapon. The Iranian side is a bit more complicated and opaque. Is it about economic issues? Is it about maintaining control of the of Hormuz? or is it about something else altogether?

I'm Jasmine El-Gamal, and this is The View From Here, where every week we take you behind the headlines and into the lives of the people living them.

This week, I spoke to Iranian analyst Hamidreza Azizi. He's a foreign policy and security expert and currently a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin, working in the Africa and Middle East research division. Previously, he served as an assistant professor of regional studies at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran from 2016 to 2020. He holds a PhD in regional studies from the University of Tehran, although has not been able to return home for several years now.