‘I’m willing to die on these streets’: Iranians caught between hope and fearpublished at 18:40 GMT
Azadeh Moshiri
South Asia correspondent, reporting from Dubai
In the first days of the war, I’d spoken to a man in his 40s who’d fled to the countryside the moment he heard bombings in Tehran. Despite his fear, he had hope. It’s now waning.
“As a general rule, I always expect the worst case scenario,” he tells me. After years of disappointment, he finds it difficult to imagine this war leading to a toppled regime and a new future for the country.
“I think the US will declare victory soon, and Iran will enter a sad year of super inflation, unrest, bloodshed, lack of food and drugs.”
He says the people he speaks to are less afraid of the bombings, but terrified of a bleak and dangerous future for Iranians. “But there are people who don’t believe the US will abandon Iran. They say he’s spent too much money to leave without an absolute victory,” he adds.
It’s extremely difficult to speak to people inside Iran, amid an internet blackout and landlines residents fear are monitored.
But someone else managed to get in touch, and he refuses to let go of hope.
“It’s only a few days until Norouz [Persian New Year], and we are in great difficulty. But I’m so desperate I’m willing to die on these streets. That’s how bad it’s gotten. Long live Iran.”
