Total repression and air strikes bring unrelenting dread for Iranians
Total Repression and Air Strikes Bring Relentless Fear for Iranians
A city that has endured six millennia of history now faces a new kind of turmoil. The night air carries only the faint buzz of traffic, but this quiet is deceptive. Beneath it, a city holds its breath, waiting for the next tremor. The sounds of war are no longer distant—they are felt in every corner, in every heartbeat.
A City in Perpetual Alarm
Baran, a thirty-something businesswoman, lives in constant vigilance. Her apartment becomes a refuge, yet even there, the threat lingers. “Opening my door feels like risking my life,” she says, her voice trembling. Friends message her relentlessly, tracking movements and sharing whispers of fear. “Even silence is a warning now,” she adds. “The air is thick with dread, and we are all trying to stay alive.”
“I cannot even remember how I used to live in the past without being reminded of the loved one I lost during the protests,” says Baran. “I fear tomorrow. I fear the person I will be tomorrow. Today, I survive somehow, but how will I get through tomorrow? That is the real question. Will I even live through tomorrow?”
The recent crackdown, which claimed thousands of lives in January, shattered hopes for change. Baran, like many young Iranians, watched those aspirations crumble. “The streets around my home are filled with armed men,” says Ali, a middle-aged man who once believed the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei would spark a new era. “They patrol like ghosts, and the city looks like a graveyard.”
“The situation is frightening…,” Ali explains. “The skies of your country are controlled by enemy forces. But at the same time there is always a hope in people’s hearts. It’s not that we are supporting America or Israel. But hoping simply that for one moment, something might happen that ends the current Iranian regime, and that the people will be able to create change.”
Repression has reached its peak. Open dissent is no longer an option; state agents lurk in shadows, watching for signs of rebellion. Footage from Tehran shows regime loyalists driving at night, their cars adorned with banners—a stark reminder that resistance is not tolerated. State media broadcasts only the official story, pairing demonstrations with funerals to reinforce a narrative of unity and sacrifice.
Despite the crackdown, some Iranians still seek truth. Independent journalists risk everything to capture stories that challenge the government’s version of events. “In wartime conditions you really don’t know what they are capable of doing,” one of them reveals. These efforts are met with threats of imprisonment, torture, and worse.
Baran’s words echo the collective anxiety: “Our sky is different from the rest of the world. They sleep under stars, and we sleep under rockets. Both give light, but different kinds of light.” She believes the conflict will outlast the war itself, seeping into the fabric of daily life. “This war is inside our homes, inside our families…It has entered our blood and our lives.”
The citizens of Tehran live in unending suspense. Their dread is not just of bombs, but of the state’s unwavering power. With additional reporting by Alice Doyard.
