Estimates put the size of the Iranian expat community at 400,000, nearly a third of a 1.3 million population. Iranians work everywhere in Dubai: in the financial sector and in the construction, transportation, and hospitality industries. Daily flights connect Tehran and Dubai (it’s an hour and 40 minutes flying time), with 200 weekly flights between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, most of them to Dubai. According to Iran’s Consulate, a million Iranians pass through Dubai each year.

What do the Iranians I’ve met think about current developments in their country? The first part of the answer is easy. Those I’ve met here loathe and despise the regime. I couldn’t find an exception.

By all accounts, the regime has made two big mistakes. First, there was the fraud — or at least the widespread presumption of mass fraud — in June’s election. The regime’s steadfast refusal to deal with public concern quickly led to public outrage. I’ve heard, time and again here, that the regime’s brazen lying is an “insult,” an unforgivable “humiliation.” Second, the viciousness with which the regime has cracked down on dissent has shocked people, including those who thought they could no longer be shocked.

It’s not surprising that so many of the Iranians I’ve spoken to — educated, professional, largely from urban centers — concede they’re concerned by the prospect of another bloody revolution or a post-clerical moment that could lead to civil war. As one young businessman told me, it’s one thing to reject the regime, but no one wants Iran to look like Lebanon. Cooperation between moderate secularists and religious Iranians is important now and will be crucial once the current regime eventually expires.