With Iran now in the midst of a near-total internet blackout, communication is dire – but we’ve managed to piece together a picture of a country where there is fear and panic, but where activists say the ruling regime is still in control.
We meet British-Iranians Amir Javadzadeh and Attieh Fard in the UK – struggling to get through to their friends and family in Iran. Hour by hour, it’s getting harder and harder.
Amir finally makes contact with a friend in the eastern city of Mashhad. We are calling the friend “Ali” to protect his identity. Ali paints a worrying picture of people struggling to get hold of basics like bread and fuel.
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He later sends us a video he’s taken of a huge fuel queue in the city.
“My wife is in hospital and I have to go there all the time and I don’t have any fuel or medicine for her.
“Really it’s a difficult time for us, and we don’t have gasoline, we have problems preparing food. All the people have fear,” he adds.
Not only is there a shortage of fuel – but some people who have fled the capital Tehran are coming to Mashhad, he adds.
“I’m really angry… we’re actually, you know, we are stuck in the middle of a war between our government and the Israelis,” Ali said.
People in Iran are terrified to speak to Western media – afraid of being punished by the Iranian regime. Although some have been prepared to share videos with us anonymously, like the one below, that they’ve filmed of the bombing in Tehran.
Attieh Fard shared with us a message exchange between her and one of her relatives, one says: “Everyone has worries and stress….They (the Israelis) won’t stop until they hit the target.”
Despite the dangers, one member of a group of anti-regime activists agreed to speak to us from the capital Tehran – we have changed his name to “Sam”, to hide his identity.
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With America threatening to bomb Iran, Sam described the ongoing conflict as a “very historical moment in our Iranian history”.
Asked if he is afraid of US intervention, he said: “Not at all because the Americans, we believe, are not going to fight with the people, they are fighting with the Islamic Republic. They’re against the ideology of the Islamic republic. So that’s why we’re not afraid.
“The view from inside Iran is that if a US attack happens, I think it will result in the fall of the Islamic Republic. I think these are the tools and the people inside are ready to take over the situation once the regime is weakened.”
