‘Tired and frightened’: How Iranians are facing the war

Saqib Mir was on the streets of Tehran on the morning of February 28 when a wave of air strikes hit the Iranian capital.

“There was chaos all around,” the doctor told Scroll. “People were rushing to their homes through the subway.”

Hours later, Mir heard the news of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei being killed in his home in a strike carried out by the United States and Israel. “For three consecutive days, Israel-US carried out major strikes,” Mir said.

On the fourth day, Mir decided it would be risky to stay on in Tehran. He decided to leave for Qom, a city to the south of Tehran, because it was safer there. He travelled 150 km by bus and booked into a hotel.

Tehran, he added, seems deserted now. Most people who could afford to have left for other parts of the country. “It’s unpredictable and difficult to guess what will happen next,” Mir said.

Even in Qom, air strikes have hit specific targets. “We were sleeping in our hotel room and suddenly the hotel went shaky and quivered like hell,” he said. The strike was not far from the hotel, he added. On March 8, another air strike hit a residential building in Qom.

As the war on Iran stretches to a fortnight, the residents of the country have hunkered down to a life of uncertainty, as US-Israel hits the country with bombs and missiles.

The usually congested streets of Tehran are now emptier. Many have fled the capital to nearby cities to seek shelter from bombs. Mobile and internet connections are erratic, and very few go to work amidst an intensifying conflict.

According to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, till March 8, military strikes have affected more than 30 provinces, 1,332 people have been killed and another 787 have been injured. Nearly 7,000 civilian structures and 65 schools have been damaged.

The bulk of strikes have happened in and around Tehran. “Hospitals and emergency medical services are operating under significant pressure due to the influx of trauma cases,” a statement from the Red Crescent said.

Black rain

On March 7, several oil storage facilities in Tehran and its suburb, Alborz, were struck by American and Israeli missiles, causing massive fires and plumes of thick black smoke throughout Sunday.

Abbas Ahmad, a journalist with Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting in Tehran, told Scroll that a crude oil depot belonging to the National Iranian Oil Company was hit in South Tehran on the night of March 7. “Around the same time, another petroleum depot was hit in the north west part of the city,” he said.

A third crude oil depot was hit in Alborz, a suburb near Tehran. “Once they caught fire, it went out of control,” he said.

The fire in the three depots raged throughout Sunday covering the city in a thick shroud of smoke.“It rained on Sunday because of which some fire could be put out,” Ahmad said.

But several residents reported downpours of “black rain”, as the rainfall was contaminated by the oil particles. The rain, Ahmad said, left black stains on buildings and roads.

Mir, the doctor, who has been following the attacks on Tehran, said the oil spill spread to several streets and caught fire. “There was acid in the rain and it damaged cars as it fell on them,” he said. In response, Iran struck oil facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

School closures, uncertainty

For several days after the attack, Mohamed Hassan Hajati, an Iranian in Mumbai, was unable to contact his relatives in Tehran.

Last week, his aunt’s family called to inform him that they had moved from Tehran to mountains in northern Iran locally known as Shomal. “But they are without any network there,” Hajati said.

An Iranian who lives in Mumbai and has her entire paternal family in Iran also said that contact with the family has been limited. “My father’s cousins have all moved out of Tehran to Yazd and other hill stations,” she said.

The family cultivates and exports pistachios. “There is uncertainty but for now we know that they are safe,” she said.

The prolonged conflict with Israel has led to long school closures, she said. “Schools were shut for three months last year when Israel attacked,” she said. “Now schools have shut again. This war is affecting everyone.”

Following the attack on oil depots in Tehran and Alborz, the situation has worsened, the woman said. “My family did not expect this kind of strike. My cousin told me the flames could not be put off for an entire day.”

However, her family is divided over the conflict, she said. The younger ones want freedom and better job opportunities and feel that the strict Islamic regime is stifling their chances. The older people in the family followed the supreme leader and grieved his death, she said.

Indians stuck in Iran

Several Indians remain in Iran, as it comes under attack.

Kashmir native Basar Imtiaz Khan, who studies in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, said several Indian students in the fourth and fifth year of their undergraduate course had chosen to stay back in Shiraz.

“Every night, we hear jets hovering over our dormitories,” he said. “We are scared they might drop a bomb on us. We don’t know when and where Israel and the US can strike next.”

Nasir Khuehami, national convenor of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association, said about 2,000 Kashmiri students study in Iran. “In the last few days they have all moved out of Tehran to Qom, Urmia, Arak and Shiraz for safety,” Khuehami said.

Khan said besides 86 Kashmiri students, all other students have left. For now, he is able to step out to buy food, besides reporting to the medical college and the hospital for his shift. “There are not many injuries reported in Shiraz as of now,” he said.

He said that the students decided to remain in Shiraz to appear for their medical exams, despite the Indian embassy’s warnings in January and February – the last issued five days before the war began. “If we had left earlier, we would have lost our degree,” he said.

The Indian embassy has asked stranded students in Shiraz to reach Qom first and then proceed to Jolfa border from where evacuation can be facilitated. The border is over 1,400 km away from Shiraz and the route passes close to Tehran. “We can’t take that risk,” Khan said.

The students have decided to stay put for now. But they are afraid. “The intensity of explosions is increasing,” Khan said. “We can hear them clearly even if they are not in our neighbourhood. We request the Indian government to provide swift evacuation. We are ready to pay for tickets.”

Asif Gulzar, a third-year undergraduate medical student in Ahvaz, a city close to the Iraq border, said the markets and public transport are open but the university and other institutions have closed.

Since February 28, Gulzar said he has seen sporadic bombing in Ahvaz. “There is often smoke in the sky,” he said. “They have hit specific targets,” he added, referring to the US-Israel’s combined campaign to dismantle Iran’s military bases.

Ahvaz has a drone base and military facility which were attacked recently.

Gulzar added: “It looks normal but actually it isn’t. People are going about their work but they are all tired and frightened.”