Fear and anxiety are present in my sister’s voice in Tehran, even with the WhatsApp connection that crackles and breaks up – amazingly still works now and then. Clarity is what she requests from me, aware that I am a BBC journalist based in London.
“What is going to happen? What do we do?” she asks. US President Donald Trump has told people in Tehran to leave. ‘Is he serious? Ever since Thursday evening, there has been a repeated Israeli air bombing of Tehran, which appears to be having a free run over the skies above the capital. They are countered by anti-aircraft fire – mostly ineffective.
Standing in her window on the higher floors of a skyscraper, my sister has a clear view of the action, which does little to soothe her nerves. The Israeli army has told residents of her area – a few kilometres in all directions – to leave. But she has refused to go.
She said that to her knowledge, there were no military-type installations close to her apartment building. However, she was wary of a commercial premise nearby which could be a target. She didn’t know what the company did.
Most individuals are unaware of their neighbours or military targets around them, as much of the Revolutionary Guards’ operations are carried out covertly and from concealed sites.
Power and water are still operational in most areas of the capital, but provisions are low. Numerous stores have shut, and others are closing. Even bakeries are shutting down – some because they are running out of flour, others presumably because their owners have abandoned them.
My sister has refused to evacuate the city, whereas hundreds of thousands – possibly millions – already have, primarily because she doesn’t have anywhere to go. Despite crowded roads and petrol shortages, numerous locals have escaped in recent days.
The streets of Tehran, once chock-a-block with traffic, are now eerily quiet. Those who remain barely venture out, fearing attacks. Recent reports suggest the long queues at petrol stations have begun to ease, and the roads out of the capital are less congested.
Citizens who reside close to the nation’s nuclear plants are also worried about the spread of nuclear contamination, as the plants have been bombed multiple times by Israel over the past few days.
The International Atomic Agency has yet to report that the radioactivity levels outside two locations that were attacked and destroyed on Friday remain the same. Folks want to know where this is going, and how long this will continue.
They largely now depend on Persian-language TV stations outside the country for news. BBC Persian’s TV service and bbc.com/persian have become a central source. Web traffic from within Iran has doubled overnight, even though the internet is slow most of the time.
Trump has demanded Iran’s surrender, but Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has just stated that Iran will not surrender. Few people in Iran sympathize with the regime, but many are afraid that chaos and anarchy may ensue if it is radically destabilized.
