It was just past 4pm when Nahid’s* windows began to shake. An Israeli bomb hit a building nearby – she could not see where – and soon her house began to fill up with smoke. It was the third day of Israeli bombing of Iran and the situation in Tehran was just getting worse.
“This is a massacre. The blasts haven’t stopped. Children are crying and we fear many civilians have been killed. There’s a smell of death in the air. I can’t stop crying,” Nahid*, a 25-year-old finance analyst at an e-commerce company in Tehran, told the Guardian via text.
Residents began to flee Tehran and head towards the countryside on Sunday as Israeli attacks on the Iranian capital escalated, with bombs raining down on residential and government buildings alike. Authorities gave no official death toll, but at least 138 people have been killed and hundreds wounded by strikes on Iran since Friday.
The bombing started early on Friday morning when Israel launched hundreds of strikes in what it said was an operation aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran quickly responded with a barrage of ballistic missiles and has continued to hit Israel, killing 10 people, including three children, in strikes on residential buildings on Saturday night.
As the conflict continued to escalate, Iranian authorities announced they would open Tehran’s metro stations and schools to use as shelters.
“Unfortunately, we in Tehran and in other cities do not have shelters,” said Mehdi Chamran, the chair of the city council, as he urged civilians to use tunnels and basements as makeshift bomb shelters.
The ferocity of the Israeli assault caught Iran’s citizens and government by surprise, as Israel’s jets flew with virtual freedom over Iranian skies. While Iranian missiles flew towards Israel, its military seemed incapable of stopping Israeli attacks.
“We are not confident mosques, schools or metro stations will be safe. What if we get buried under? My sisters and I are going to urge my parents and neighbours to leave home,” Nahid said.
There were scenes of chaos on Tehran’s streets as residents rushed to buy food amid bombings before shops shut.
“People are running around in the streets and screaming. It’s extremely dangerous to step outside now but we don’t have an option,” said Reza*, a student at the University of Tehran. The 21-year-old described long lines at petrol stations as he and others filled their cars before making the journey out of the city.
While residents queued for fuel, or for cash at ATMs, a sense of panic began to spread as the strikes were joined by car-bombings, reportedly targeting Iranian nuclear scientists. People struggled to contact their loved ones as Iran’s mobile phone network failed, giving only sporadic coverage.
Experts said Israel’s attack had come at a critical point for the Iranian government, which has been rocked by protests in recent years and by a deepening economic crisis.
“This war comes at a most acute situation domestically, because we have the gravest economic crisis for decades,” said Dr Ali Fathollah-Nejad, the founder and director of the Center for Middle East and Global Order.
Prices of food and other essential goods have rocketed over the past year as the Iran’s currency, the rial, rapidly depreciated. Trump quickly signed an executive order after retaking office in January that tightened sanctions against Iran, choking off oil exports from the already beleaguered economy.
Fathollah-Nejad said the economic crisis had been one of the key factors alongside military pressure that pushed the Iranian government towards diplomacy with the US, with which it had been negotiating over its nuclear programme for the past couple of months.
Iranians took to social media to mock the government’s lack of preparedness, sharing videos of top military officials saying Israel would never dare to attack Iran. Officials had previously trumpeted Iran’s ability to deter strikes through its fierce military capabilities.
Within Iran, state TV replayed footage of Iranian strikes on Israel and played down the impact of Israeli attacks. The feeling of being under attack has prompted a sense of unity among some Iranians.
“We have been hearing the rumours of regime change, especially by the Israelis and Americans. It seems more like a joke,” said Hadi*, a Tehran resident in his 60s.
He added that among his friends, those who were initially against Iran developing nuclear weapons now felt the country needed an atomic arsenal to defend itself from Israel.
“Many Iranians may criticise the government and object to the strategies, but history has proven that Iranians unite when attacked by a foreign country,” Hadi said.
* Some names have been changed
