'I just hope for a miracle': Iranians brace themselves as US and Israeli bombs rain down
When Hossein woke up in his eastern Tehran home on Saturday morning to the sounds and news of US and Israeli strikes, he immediately tried to contact his parents.
He called again and again, but no one answered.
“The last time I spoke to my parents was last night. I had asked them many times to leave Tehran. I told them that since they are retired, they should at least go to the north for now," he tells Middle East Eye, struggling to hold back tears.
“But they refused. They said this is not a life – leaving our home every couple of days.”
Hossein says his parents’ home was completely destroyed by Israeli strikes on Saturday.
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He does not know what has happened to them. “I just hope for a miracle,” he says, breaking down in tears and unable to speak.
His parents live in the Narmak neighbourhood of Tehran, where Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Iranian president, has been known to reside.
The district is home to several high-ranking or prominent Iranians, and therefore a target, as US and Israeli attacks try to decapitate Iran's leadership.
As attacks rained down on Tehran and cities across the country, Iran's National Security Council urged the public to leave the capital and other major targets.
The roads have been choked with vehicles trying to make their way out of Tehran, a city of 9.5 million people.
Plumes of smoke could be seen rising from buildings around Tehran, while Iranian media reported attacks across the country, including on the holy city of Qom, Karaj, Isfahan and Kermanshah, and the western province of Ilam.
Several locations in central Tehran were targeted, including areas around Jomhouri and Pasteur streets, which house the residence of Iran’s supreme leader and the presidential office. A number of buildings have reportedly collapsed after being struck.
Massive explosion
Iranians have been frantically trying to contact their friends and family.
Siavash, 29, tells MEE he was walking near Vanak Square in northern Tehran when he heard a sudden explosion.
“I was on the phone with a friend, making plans to play football tonight, when I heard a terrifying noise above me,” he recalls.
“I couldn’t tell if it was a fighter jet or a missile. Seconds later, it turned into a massive explosion.”
He added that the noise didn’t stop as he tried to take cover.
"I’m still in shock, and my ears are ringing."
So far it has been difficult to ascertain the death toll or extent of the destruction caused by the strikes.
'I have never seen a war lead to anything good. No matter how criminal a government may be, war is still worse'
- Azar, Tehran resident
The starkest incident has been a strike that hit a school in the southern province of Hormozgan.
At least 63 children were killed when the blast hit Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab city, while bodies continue to be pulled from the wreckage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Trump have both characterised the attack on Iran as a potential liberation for Iranians, calling on them to oust the Islamic Republic's ruling establishment.
But the spectre of state collapse, and uncertainty about who would take over, has many in the country worried.
Azar, a retired high school teacher who lives in west Tehran, lived through the Iran–Iraq war in the 1980s, a conflict that killed as many as a million people and saw the capital pummelled by Saddam Hussein's missiles.
"I know how terrible war is. My children are not in Iran, and I live here alone," she said.
"I don’t understand how some people can hope for war. In my life, I have never seen a war lead to anything good. No matter how criminal a government may be, war is still worse," she added.
"This morning, I woke up to the sound of terrifying explosions. My children call me every day and tell me to leave Tehran. But where can I go? I am tired now. Truly tired."
Uncertainty and anticipation
The Islamic Republic has arguably never faced a crisis as existential since the end of the Iran-Iraq war.
For some of its opponents, the strikes open up possibilities. Both the son of the former monarch, Reza Pahlavi, and the controversial National Council of Resistance of Iran have moved to declare themselves potential transitional rulers.
Meanwhile, political groups associated with Iran's myriad minority communities are watching and waiting.
The Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an armed Kurdish-Iranian group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), told MEE it seeks to turn the current conflict into an opportunity.
"The main cause of the war is the Islamic Republic of Iran," a spokesperson for PJAK's diplomatic committee said.
"The current situation contains both opportunity and threat. We are trying to turn it into an opportunity."
But for many in the country there is little to do but wait and watch.
Milad, 31, was at work in his mobile phone shop on Hafez Street in central Tehran when the explosions began. His shop is close to Republic Street, near one of the reported blast sites.
'We suddenly heard a terrible noise. At first, we thought it was an earthquake. The sound was so frightening'
– Milad, Tehran resident
“We suddenly heard a terrible noise. At first, we thought it was an earthquake,” he told Middle East Eye. “The sound was so frightening. Then there were several more explosions, and everything became more and more scary.”
As blasts echoed across different parts of the capital and smoke rose from buildings, uncertainty over Iran’s future deepened.
It was the first working day of the week, and many had gone to work wondering whether negotiations with the United States would resume, or whether the country was edging towards war.
Milad said he quickly closed his shop and headed home. On the way, he followed updates on his phone.
“That’s when I realised Israel and the United States had carried out the attack,” he said.
“I honestly have no idea what will happen next. Right now, I feel like a question mark myself.”
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