Iranians fleeing country describe life under bombs and no internet
STORY: :: Iranians describe their life under bombs and without internet as they flee through Armenia's border
:: Meghri, Armenia
:: June 20, 2025
"We heard bombs, we were very near them. We were tourists, we were visiting and now we are escaping. It's just awful. Our flights were cancelled, and I have to travel with a little baby, it's just horrid."
"Our families in Iran are in a peaceful situation for now, but it is terrible - sometimes they hit Tehran, sometimes Tehran hits Israel. We want peace, so that all this ends as soon as possible. The entire Internet is disconnected - it is terrible, we have no contact with our families at all. We are trying to contact them in different ways. It is a very stressful situation."
The border is located 237 miles (386km) from Yerevan, though the drive, which winds along a hairpin mountain road, takes around 8 hours.
Sputnik Armenia, a Russian state news outlet focussed on the former Soviet republic, reported on Tuesday that the flow of refugees had seen taxi drivers in the nearby town of Meghri triple their ordinary fares for the trip to Yerevan to $220 per car.
With many of Iran's neighbors like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq themselves struggling with internal turbulence, Armenia offers a relatively democratic and stable island in a deeply troubled region.
Meanwhile, Iran's much longer border with Armenia's neighbor and bitter rival Azerbaijan has been largely closed since the covid pandemic, although some foreign nationals have been evacuated to Baku by special arrangement.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
18 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Israeli strikes on Iran cap dramatic shift in Mideast strategic balance
JERUSALEM — While the world braces for President Donald Trump's decision on bombing Iran and the tectonic waves that could follow, here in the Middle East, the earthquake has already struck. Israel's go-for-broke attacks on Iran launched just over a week ago — after decades of intense but largely covert conflict between the two powers — have dramatically shifted the strategic balance in a way that will probably prevail whether American bombers enter the fray or not, according to analysts in Israel, across the region and beyond.
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tulsi Gabbard Flips Sides in MAGA Civil War Over Iran's Nuclear Capabilities
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has flipped her stance on Iran after President Donald Trump nuked her intelligence as 'wrong.' Gabbard told the Senate Intelligence Committee on March 25 that there was no intelligence to suggest Iran was building nuclear weapons, though the country had enriched its uranium to higher levels. Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's June 12 'preemptive' strike on Iran—which he justified by saying that the country has a 'secret plan' to weaponize uranium—Trump sided with Israel's countervailing position. On two separate occasions this week, Trump rebuffed Gabbard's earlier assessment of Iran's nuclear program. 'I don't care what [Gabbard] said,' Trump said aboard Air Force One. 'I think they were very close to having one.' In another comment on Wednesday, the president added that Iran was 'a few weeks' away from turning their uranium into a weapon, echoing similar sentiments shared by Netanyahu. Then on Friday, Gabbard fell in line with Trump, attacking the media for having the gall to believe what she said. 'The dishonest media is intentionally taking my testimony out of context and spreading fake news as a way to manufacture division,' Gabbard wrote to her 600K followers. 'America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly.' She added, 'President Trump has been clear that can't happen, and I agree.' Gabbard included a clip of what she called her 'full testimony,' which has since racked up 8.9 million views. The world has been thrown into a state of limbo while Trump weighs a decision on whether to get the United States involved in strikes on Iran, a decision the country warned would be 'very dangerous.' In a statement read on Thursday by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Trump said he would make his decision 'within the next two weeks' based on the fact that there 'is a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future.' Reuters reported that the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with a group of European diplomats in Geneva on Friday for nuclear talks.
Wall Street Journal
29 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Iran Hits Northern Israel With Rare Successful Drone Strike
Israeli emergency-services organization Magen David Adom said that an Iranian drone hit a two-story building in northern Israel, causing damage to the structure. No injuries were reported. Saturday's hit is one of the first successful Iranian drone strikes acknowledged by the Israeli military since the offensive in Iran began. Iran has fired hundreds of drones at Israel since the start of the conflict, according to the military. Israeli air-defense systems have so far performed well against them, according to the military, which said it intercepted the large majority.
