Thousands from Tehran have fled their home. Those who've stayed say they feel 'constant anxiety'
As Iran and Israel continue to trade strikes, human rights organisations have warned of the humanitarian toll of the conflict on both sides. Credit: Middle East Images / ABACA / PA/ Alamy / SBS Persian Columns of "black smoke" rising from different corners of the city, "loud explosive sounds", the constant noise of "gunfire", and empty streets — this is how some in Iran's capital of Tehran are describing their city, a week into the country's conflict with Israel. "I'm in constant anxiety," one citizen told SBS News, hours before the latest internet blackout in Iran. "When I want to sleep in the evening, I think to myself, should I tell my wife, 'I love you'? Should I tell her 'I had a good life with you'? What if this is the last moment?" Another person from Tehran said: "If I say I'm not scared, I'd be lying. We were all scared, we're all anxious. The future is uncertain for all of us."
The conflict between Israel and Iran erupted on Friday, 13 June, after Israel launched an aerial assault that it said was aimed at stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Nuclear facilities, military sites and residential buildings were hit, while Iranian media said military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians were killed. Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel, and the two countries have continued to trade deadly attacks since. As of Friday, at least 25 people have been killed in Iranian strikes, according to Israel. Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, but authorities have not issued an updated toll since. The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a Washington-based Iranian human rights group, has said at least 639 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Iran.
Human rights groups are urging Israeli and Iranian authorities to protect civilians. "What we are seeing in both of these countries is a pattern of indiscriminate and unlawful attacks," Kyinzom Dhongdue, advocacy manager at Amnesty International Australia, told SBS News. "These are not just morally unconscionable, these are a direct breach of human rights law." Iran's capital has been one of the main targets of Israel's attacks in the past seven days.
Eyewitnesses from Tehran told SBS News that many had left their homes in recent days. "Many people have left the city to save their lives. The city is almost empty. Most shops are closed. Right now, life in Tehran is not in a good state," one person said. Another person from Tehran said "the usual sound of the city has disappeared". Living in a state of uncertainty, Tehranis say they are concerned for their city, which is completely different from just a week ago. "I'm seeing my city just from the window," a person from Tehran said. "On one hand, I want to go and see up close what's happening," they said. "I want to see it with my own eyes. "But I can't, because I'm scared."
Evacuating Tehran has come at a cost for some of its people. Iranian Australian Ramak Bamzar worries for her father in Iran. The Tehran resident was diagnosed with colon cancer a few weeks ago and was receiving urgent treatment at a hospital in the capital. Bamzar said her father was forced to evacuate Tehran amid strikes, as an area near the hospital was bombed. This has meant he has had to stop chemotherapy. "They shot the spot near the hospital, not exactly the hospital, but the shock was really massive," she told SBS News. "He was on the bed in the hospital to start the chemo[therapy] and the nurses, they fainted."
Bamzar said her father is now living in limbo. 'We don't know when he can start doing treatment, and it could be very dangerous for him if he doesn't do it as soon as possible. "It's really serious — having cancer and war, it's just like which one is more important?" Amir Ali Savadkoohi, an ICU doctor in Tehran, told SBS News there is dwindling medical support in the city. "Many people have left Tehran, and we're facing a shortage of nurses and doctors," he said. "We've mostly tried to merge departments to make the most of the limited medical staff we have." While Bamzar has not been able to contact her father in the last two days, as many Iranians have lost access to the internet, the distance between father and daughter is being felt more than ever before. "If I was there, maybe I could do something. Here, you are just desperate. You feel like you have no power to do anything to help," she said.
While some have decided to flee Tehran, others have decided to stay. Iranian Australian Fariman Kashani's 72-year-old mother is one of them. "She's very strong. She decided to stay at home. She said, 'If they're gonna bomb me, I choose to stay and die in my house,'" he said.
Separated by thousands of kilometres, Kashani says he feels "helpless". "I can feel how damaging war can be," he said. "I can feel it with my whole body and my heart."
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