AMNA NAWAZ: Late last night, for the third time, the U.S.

House of Representatives voted to end the war with Iran.

That war powers resolution would stop President Trump from continuing military action against Iran without congressional approval, but it still needs to pass the Senate, and it comes more than six months into a conflict that president said would last weeks.

For a view from inside Iran.

I spoke earlier with "News Hour"'s Tehran-based special correspondent Reza Sayah on a rare trip home to the U.S.

Reza, welcome back to the "News Hour."

It's good to see you here in person.

REZA SAYAH: Great to be here.

Good to see you, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: So you are there on the ground reporting for us and others.

With the war now approaching seven months, what has daily life become for people in Tehran and across Iran?

REZA SAYAH: It's very difficult.

I mean, life in war is difficult.

Initially, they had to deal with being bombed on a daily basis, then the economic pressure, the uncertainty, and now you have additional sanctions.

So war is difficult, and the ones who feel it the most are the average, average people.

At the same time, you see a lot of pride in Iranians.

You see a lot of confidence.

You see in a lot of Iranians they know that this moment could be defining for the future of their sovereignty and independence.

So you have all these emotions together.

But definitely, when you're at war, it's difficult and painful.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's talk about the leadership and the sort of strength of the regime.

As you have been covering, we know the U.S.

and Israel have killed dozens of Iran's top military commanders and senior officials, ramping up the economic pressure as well, hit a number of Iran's military installations.

And yet the regime seems to still be standing, new supreme leader, of course, but the same ideological regime.

Has that surprised you to see that strength of the regime?

Do you know how weakened they have been by the U.S.?

REZA SAYAH: Well, this was a defining moment for them.

They took a very hard punch from the world's lone superpower, the United States, two nuclear powers.

And despite their senior political leaders, military leaders, and the supreme leader being assassinated, the leadership is still there.

They have different names, different identities, but they are still there.

And to many observers, this was an indication that Iran has very powerful, entrenched, well-rooted institutions that can take a punch like this and still survive.

And not only, in their view, have they survived.

Now indications are that they're getting more aggressive, that they believe that the United States does not want a fair diplomatic solution, that they want to destabilize the United States.

In their view, Israel wants Iran to be a failed state.

And they believe that diplomatic solution, negotiations has not worked.

They haven't gotten anything tangible.

So they're considering and carrying out measures that indicate that they're being more aggressive.

AMNA NAWAZ: There were, as you well know, mass protests, millions of Iranians who took to the streets before the war.

We saw the Iranian government respond with a brutal crackdown, which we have seen before, reports of at least dozens of the protesters who have been executed since then.

Human rights groups say 100 protesters still on death row.

How would you describe the anti-government sentiment right now?

Are people still willing to come out and protest?

REZA SAYAH: Well, they haven't come out and protest.

It's not -- Iran is 90 million people.

There's certainly a significant, considerable segment of the population that at the very least want reform.

There's a segment of the population that wants regime change.

And there's also a big, huge part of the population that doesn't want to be the targets of foreign attacks, foreign wars.

And they see this moment as a moment of survival for Iran.

So the anti-government protesters that we saw in January have not reappeared in the streets.

That doesn't mean that people don't want reform, that don't want change.

But I think the population that has made its presence felt is the Iranian population that sees this as a war of survival and they're outraged that they have been bombed by the United States and Israel.

AMNA NAWAZ: Reza, what is it like for you as a journalist reporting on the ground in Iran for Western outlets?

Do you face repercussions or pressure, intervention from government officials?

REZA SAYAH: Repeatedly, there's this narrative that American citizens are in danger there, that the Iran -- the Iranian government systematically goes after dual citizens and American -- and citizens in order to use them as pawns in negotiations.

There have been some arrests of dual citizens, and those have been unjustified.

They have been crimes.

But I have not seen any systematic effort by the Iranian government over these 20 years that I have reported there to go after dual citizens, and I'm an example.

I'm an American citizen.

I have an American passport.

I'm able to report freely over there.

They have criticized many of my reports, especially in 2009 during the Green Movement.

They have been -- they were very critical of my reports, where they didn't grant me press credentials.

But my experience with them has been, if my reports are fair and balanced, and if, in their view, I'm presenting both sides, they're willing to welcome international journalists, including American journalists.

AMNA NAWAZ: Reza Sayah, special correspondent for us on the ground in Iran, it's good to have you here.

Thank you very much.

REZA SAYAH: Good to be here.

You're welcome.