Amid escalating tensions in the US-Israel conflict with Iran, ordinary citizens grapple with fear, loss, and shifting loyalties. Six individuals from diverse backgrounds reveal personal impacts from recent protests, military drafts, and airstrikes.
Behzad, 31, Military Conscript
Behzad holds a master’s degree in humanities and shares a rented flat in central Tehran with his partner. He avoided January’s anti-government protests due to their link to an exiled opposition figure. Friends fell to regime violence, yet he now serves compulsory military duty, losing rights to formal work or travel.
Initially assigned administrative tasks, war shifted him to guard duty and patrols at bombarded sites. He expresses deep detachment from the system: “I feel no attachment whatsoever to this system. Not only do I have no interest in it – I actually hate it. You just have to stand in some corner and wait for something to come out of the sky at any moment and hit you, and you drop dead as if you had never existed. It’s such an absurd death.”
Behzad dismisses hopes of democratic change via war: “You’d have to be an idiot to think that. … In the end, part of the regime will make some kind of deal with Trump. What we will end up with is a military dictatorship.”
Fahimeh, 55, State Employee
Fahimeh works in a Tehran government office, prioritizing national dignity and safety. “History will write that Iran either won or lost. What must be recorded is that Iran won,” she asserts.
Proud of Iran’s ancient heritage, she views foreign powers as threats, advocating retention of deterrents like Strait of Hormuz control and enriched uranium. “It creates deterrence. Iran must become stronger.”
On Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death, she separates personal qualities from politics: “I separate a person’s human character from their political character. I do not feel happy about anyone’s death.” Acknowledging public anger, even colleagues mourned January protest victims as “a national tragedy.” She anticipates regime adaptation post-war and rejects external regime change calls as “sheer foolishness.”
Nika, 23, Student and English Teacher
Nika, a psychology student and English tutor, relocated with her mother to her estranged father’s rural home outside Tehran since the war. She misses her privacy and routine, sometimes sleeping in the car to escape constant news.
January protest deaths fueled fury and brief war hopes, but explosions shattered that: “I was terrified. War is completely different when it actually arrives.” Khamenei’s death evoked shock, not joy. Child deaths in Minab strikes brought guilt: “You ask yourself: why had you wanted war in your heart before it came? … Even in my heart, I should not have wanted war. I don’t want anyone to be killed.”
She discarded her hijab post-protests, supported by her mother against conservative relatives.
Parisa, 20, Medical Student
Parisa, from a pro-government religious family, clashes over beliefs and dress. War’s onset brought schoolchildren’s screams and blasts: “That was when I understood the war had begun.” Panicking without phone contact, she cried to her returning mother, “In the end we’re going to die, aren’t we?” Her mother replied, “No, we’ll become martyrs.” Parisa retorted, “That is death. What difference does it make?”
Khamenei’s death deepened family rifts; neighborhood cheers marked a “turning point in history.” She opposes the regime and external interventions, fearing cycles of vengeance. “What she wants most of all … is an ordinary life,” but considers emigration.
Parnian, 20, Cafe Worker
Parnian sustained a hand injury from protest gunfire while aiding wounded: “They shot at me from above. The bullet tore through the collar of my padded jacket and hit my right hand.” Hospitals initially refused treatment; her war-veteran father confronted them.
Even he now resents the regime: “I’d be willing to go 20 days without water or electricity if it meant they would go.” Parnian views war as a final stand: “If the Islamic republic isn’t going to be overthrown, then let the war not end. … This is our last bullet.”
Amir, 40, Taxi Driver
Amir, father of two, drives for a ride-hailing app and joined January protests over economic woes, not exiled figures: “Pahlavi sits over there talking nonstop, sending other people’s young men in front of bullets.”
He hoped for pre-war deals but sees absurdity in checkpoints amid airstrikes: “America is bombing from the sky, and you’re standing here and searching my car? This is how security is established?” Trump prioritizes self-interest, he believes.
