Image source, Getty Images
Long lines in gas stations and bakeries. A row of cars that try to get out of the capital. Long and scary nights.
Still shocked by the sudden attack by Israel to Iran in the early hours of Friday, Tehran residents talk about fear, confusion, feeling of helplessness and the emotions found that are going through.
“It's night ago we do not sleep. Everyone leaves, but I don't. My father says it is more honorable to die in your own home than to flee,” a 21 -year -old music student tells me, through an encrypted social networks application.
Donya – a woman who does not want to reveal her real name – is one of the many Iranians trapped in a war between a regime that they hate and Israel, whose destructive power in Gaza has seen this woman on her screen in the distance.
“I really don't want my beautiful Tehran to become Gaza,” says Donya.
As for the call of the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, that the Iranians get up against their clerical leadership, she has a blunt response: “We do not want Israel to save us. No foreign country has ever worried about Iran. We do not want the Islamic Republic.”
Image source, Getty Images
Another woman told the Persian BBC service that at first she felt a “strange emotion” when seeing Israel kill a group of powerful military commanders who thought they would live forever.
“Suddenly, that image of power broke into a thousand pieces. But, from the second day, when I heard that common people, who did not know, people like me had also died I began to feel pain, fear and sadness,” he says.
The woman explains how the sadness she felt quickly became anger when she knew that the South Pars gas field had been impacted, fearing that Israel was trying to leave Iran “in ruins.”
For the first time in her life, this woman says she thought about preparing for the idea of dying.
More than 220 people – many of them women and children – have died in attacks since Friday, according to Iranian authorities, who reported that their missiles have killed at least 24 people in Israel in the same period.
This Monday, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, said that everyone should “immediately” Tehran.
Differences with Israel
Unlike Israel, in Iran there are no warnings of imminent attacks or shelters to run.
The missiles fall from heaven, but a bombing campaign in Tehran, reported by both Israeli and Iranian media, generated more panic and confusion among people.
Even some regime supporters, as reported, are upset by the fact that their so praised defenses have been completely exposed.
Among many Iranians, distrust in the authorities is deep.
Donya used to challenge the regime and its strict clothing code coming out with bare hair.
Now, with its postponed university exams until next week, it prefers to stay at home.
Image source, Getty Images
“I am very afraid at night. I take some pills to relax and try to sleep,” he says.
The Iranian government has suggested that people take refuge in mosques and subway stations. But that is difficult when explosions seem to appear out of nowhere.
“Tehran is a big city and, nevertheless, all neighborhoods have been affected in some way by the damage,” another young woman told the Persian BBC service.
“For now, all we do is review the news every hour and call the friends and family of the neighborhoods that have been achieved to ensure that they are still alive.”
She and her family decided to leave their home to stay in an area where there are no known government buildings, although you never know, in a country like Iran, who can be living by your side.
A split society
The Israeli assault has divided the Iranians. While some celebrate regime losses, others are angry with those who encourage Israel. Many change their minds about what they think.
The divisions are bitter, even among some families.
“The situation feels like the first hours after the Titanic hit the iceberg. Some people tried to escape, others said it was not much and others continued dancing,” says the woman.
She has always protested against the administrative rulers of Iran, she tells the BBC, but sees what Netanyahu is doing to her country as “inexcusable.”
“Everyone's life, whether they support the attacks or not, has changed forever. Most of the Iranians, even those who oppose the government, have now realized that freedom and human rights do not come from Israeli bombs that fall on cities where defenseless civilians live,” he says.
Image source, Getty Images
“Most of us are scared and worried about what comes next. We have packed bags with first aid supplies, food and water, in case things get worse,” he adds.
Israel says that the Iranian armed forces have deliberately placed their command and weapons centers within buildings and civil areas.
Iran's great diaspora members are also worried.
“It is difficult to convey what it is to be Iranian at this time,” says Dorreh Khatibi-Hill, an activist and researcher for the rights of women based in Leeds who is in contact with family, friends and other anti-regime activists.
“You are happy that the members of the regime, who have been torturing and killing people, are being eliminated. But we know that civilians are dying. This is a devastating humanitarian disaster,” he adds.
And the Iranians are not receiving accurate information about what is happening, he thinks.
“The main person in Iran, the supreme leader, is still alive while the Iranians flee fearing for their lives. Nobody wants to go become another Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan. None of us wants this war. We do not want the regime either,” says the activist.
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