The twelve-day war in May 2025 acted as a "limit situation" that suspended the Iranian life-world. This study phenomenologically explores this event through intellectual elites to determine how it became problematized in the absence of credible official narratives and its implications for the social contract. Using a qualitative approach and "Reflexive Thematic Analysis," research analyzed data from 58 elite speeches across 15 specialized sessions of the Iranian Sociological Association. Findings revealed trauma within four dimensions: 1. Epistemological-Political (crisis of authority and "media stuttering"); 2. Economic-Spatial (structural defenselessness of metropolises and "Uberization of survival"); 3. Psycho-Ethical (moral collapse in the "survival tunnel" and gendered trauma); 4. Identity-Prospective (transition from Ummah-ism to civic nationalism). The synthesized layered model demonstrates that trauma originated in infrastructure and penetrated the identity core. This model indicates the birth of "hidden agency" and "chronic questioning." Reconstructing the social contract in post-war Iran will not be achieved through physical reconstruction but by legitimizing narrative plurality and civic nationalism. In this framework, "Iran" is redefined not as an ideological concept, but as a "civic sanctuary" for its citizens. The war served as a final warning, necessitating a return to a pluralistic contract to avoid endless suspension.



Extended Abstract

1. Introduction

The twelve day war between Iran and Israel in June 2025 represented more than a brief military confrontation; it constituted a profound social rupture that disrupted the everyday life of millions of Iranian citizens. In Jaspers’ terms, the conflict functioned as a “limit situation,” an event that interrupts ordinary routines and exposes the fragility of social meanings and institutions. During the conflict, uncertainty, fear of bombardment, and the rapid circulation of contradictory information destabilized the ontological security of the Iranian life world. As a result, the war was experienced not only as a geopolitical event but also as a moment that forced society to confront hidden vulnerabilities in its social and institutional structures.

The main issue addressed in this study is the emergence of a “crisis of meaning” during the war. Official institutions attempted to frame the conflict through familiar ideological narratives emphasizing unity, resistance, and strategic success. However, many intellectual observers argued that these narratives failed to adequately capture the lived experiences of citizens. Instead of providing interpretive clarity, official discourse often appeared repetitive and hesitant, creating what several commentators described as a form of “structural stuttering.” This gap between official narratives and everyday experiences produced what can be described as a “narrative vacuum,” leaving citizens without credible interpretive frameworks capable of explaining the social meaning of the crisis.

This research therefore seeks to examine how the twelve day war was interpreted and problematized by Iranian social thinkers. Rather than focusing on military strategy or diplomatic developments, the study adopts a sociological perspective that explores the social, cultural, and psychological dimensions of the conflict. Particular attention is given to how intellectuals interpreted the war as a revealer of deeper structural tensions within Iranian society, including urban vulnerability, economic insecurity, gendered experiences of trauma, and transformations in national identity.

The significance of this study lies in its attempt to move beyond hardware centered conceptions of security toward a social interpretation of war. From this perspective, the conflict becomes an event that exposes latent social fault lines and stimulates debates about the future of the national social contract.



2. Methodology

This study adopts a qualitative interpretive approach based on Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA), as articulated by Braun and Clarke (2021, 2022). RTA allows researchers to identify patterns of meaning within complex discursive data while acknowledging the interpretive role of the analyst. The aim is not statistical generalization but the reconstruction of conceptual frameworks through which social actors interpret events.

The empirical data were drawn from a series of scholarly discussions organized after the war. Between July and October 2025, the Iranian Sociological Association, in collaboration with the University of Tehran, hosted fifteen thematic sessions examining the social consequences of the conflict. These sessions brought together 58 prominent Iranian scholars from various disciplines, including sociology, political science, psychology, urban studies, and cultural studies. The interdisciplinary nature of the panel provided a wide range of analytical perspectives on the social impact of the war.

The analysis followed Braun and Clarke’s six phase process. The first phase involved immersion in the data through repeated reading of the transcripts in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the discussions. In the second phase, initial codes were generated inductively from the data. Examples of early codes included “media stuttering,” “urban spatial trap,” “economy of survival,” and “militarization of motherhood.”

The third phase involved clustering these codes into broader thematic categories. In the fourth phase, the themes were reviewed and refined to ensure that they accurately represented the patterns of meaning present in the dataset. During the fifth phase, themes were clearly defined and organized into four main analytical spheres reflecting the different dimensions of the social experience of war.

Finally, the sixth phase involved synthesizing the themes into an interpretive framework that explains how different layers of social trauma emerged during the conflict. Reflexivity was maintained throughout the research process to ensure that the analysis balanced theoretical interpretation with the empirical voices of the participants.



3. Findings

The analysis identified fourteen interconnected themes grouped into four major spheres—epistemological political, economic spatial, psycho ethical, and identity prospective—showing that the war produced a multidimensional social shock affecting institutions, urban life, and collective identity. In the epistemological political sphere, participants highlighted a phenomenon described as “media stuttering,” where official communication failed to adequately represent the social trauma experienced by citizens. Government narratives continued to rely on familiar ideological themes of solidarity and resistance, but many people perceived them as disconnected from their lived realities of fear and uncertainty. As a result, the credibility of official discourse weakened and alternative narratives circulating through social media and informal networks gained greater influence, reflecting a broader legitimacy crisis in the relationship between institutions and society.

The economic spatial dimension revealed the structural vulnerability of large cities such as Tehran, which lacked effective warning systems and accessible shelters and were therefore described as “spatial traps.” At the same time, the crisis produced what participants called the “Uberization of survival,” as precarious workers in informal and platform based jobs were forced to continue working despite security risks in order to sustain their livelihoods. In the psycho ethical sphere, discussions pointed to a process of “moral tunneling,” where the pressure of survival reduced empathy toward marginalized groups and sometimes led to scapegoating narratives, particularly against Afghan migrants. Participants also emphasized the gendered nature of wartime experience, noting that women played crucial roles in managing household crises while remaining largely absent from official narratives. Finally, the identity prospective sphere suggested a shift in collective identity toward “civic nationalism,” where the homeland is increasingly understood as a shared civic space requiring protection and collective responsibility.



4. Conclusion

The findings of this study suggest that the twelve day war functioned as a revealing moment that exposed underlying tensions within Iranian society. The conflict highlighted the limitations of a security paradigm focused primarily on military power while neglecting the social and communicative foundations of resilience.

The analysis indicates that national resilience cannot be produced solely through top down narratives. Instead, it requires the reconstruction of a credible public sphere in which diverse voices are able to participate in shaping the interpretation of collective experiences. Strengthening institutional transparency and recognizing social plurality appear essential for rebuilding trust between state and society.

Based on the discussions analyzed in this research, three possible trajectories for the post war period can be identified. The first scenario involves gradual erosion, in which unresolved structural vulnerabilities lead to persistent uncertainty and social fragmentation. The second scenario involves radicalization, where continued moral polarization and scapegoating intensify internal tensions within society.

The third and more constructive scenario involves the reconstruction of the social contract. The emergence of civic oriented interpretations of national identity suggests the possibility of redefining the homeland as a space grounded in rights, security, and plural coexistence. In this perspective, the resilience of society depends not only on material reconstruction but also on restoring the capacity of citizens to participate in public narration and collective meaning making.

Ultimately, the war demonstrated that the most durable form of security is rooted in a social order that recognizes the dignity and agency of its members. Rebuilding trust, strengthening communicative institutions, and acknowledging diverse social experiences may therefore constitute the most important foundations for post war reconstruction.