Voices from Iran after US strikes

“My days and nights are the identical. I really feel paralysed. I simply stare on the ceiling all day and all evening.”

“I hold questioning what’s going to occur subsequent, and we’re continually caught without warning.”

Shahla – whose title we’ve got modified for her safety – is among the many Iranians who’ve contacted BBC Persian to specific their concern and anger after the US bombed three of their nation’s key nuclear websites in a single day.

US President Donald Trump mentioned the Isfahan, Natanz and Fordo services had been “obliterated” and informed Iran’s leaders that they now had a alternative of “peace or tragedy”.

However Iranian Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi mentioned the US had crossed “an enormous pink line” and warned that it could have “eternal penalties”.

The strikes occurred simply over per week after Israel launched a large-scale air marketing campaign in opposition to Iran, saying it aimed to take away what it known as the existential threats of the nation’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Iran’s well being ministry says not less than 430 folks have been killed to date, though one human rights group has put the dying toll at double that.

Iran has responded by launching missiles at Israeli cities, killing 24 folks, in line with Israeli authorities.

Iran’s authorities has severely restricted entry to the web over the previous week, limiting the stream of details about what is occurring on the bottom and making it more durable for households to speak.

Mehri – additionally not her actual title – was nonetheless capable of ship BBC Persian an audio message saying how the US strikes had left her upset and offended.

“I do not suppose I’ve ever felt this stage of sorrow and rage over something in my life,” she mentioned. “However in a approach, it additionally provides me a wierd sense of readability – it jogs my memory that I am linked to one thing past myself.”

“This struggle – Iran’s struggle – is basically a battle between three people. Three leaders, from three nations, pushed by their very own ideologies,” she added, apparently referring to Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“I get livid after I hear them point out names like Isfahan or abruptly declare: ‘We have taken management of Iran’s skies.’ These usually are not simply phrases to me – they’re sacred.”

Homayoun, a person from the north-western area of Maku, was defiant within the face of Trump’s warning that Iran would face extra assaults if it didn’t comply with peace.

“Sure, we’re going via robust instances – however we’ll stand by our nation to the very finish. And if wanted, we’ll give our lives for our homeland, for our honour,” he mentioned. “We cannot let America and its lackeys make any fallacious strikes in our nation.”

Trump warned Iran on Saturday that any retaliation in opposition to the US “will probably be met with drive far higher than what was witnessed tonight”.

However at a information convention in Turkey on Sunday, Araghchi declared that Iran reserved “all choices to defend its safety, pursuits and other people”. He additionally mentioned the US bore “full accountability for the results of its actions”.

The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) described US bases within the Center East as “vulnerabilities, not strengths”.

Earlier than Israel launched its air marketing campaign, Iran’s defence minister had threatened to focus on all US bases “inside our attain” if the US participated in any strikes on its nuclear programme.

Some hardliners additionally known as for US Navy vessels within the Gulf to be focused and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, one of many world’s most essential delivery routes.

One other Iranian man informed BBC Persian that he hoped this was “the height of the struggle’s escalation – and from right here, issues will begin to de-escalate”.

“Iran is rational sufficient to know that any response focusing on the US can be full suicide,” he mentioned.

“My little one will probably be born in a number of days, and I hope their beginning coincides with the beginning of a brand new Iran – one which adopts a contemporary method towards each the worldwide system and its home affairs.”

“And I hope they develop up realizing that surveillance cameras and safety forces must be centered on actual threats, not on imposing the hijab,” he added, referring to Iran’s strict legal guidelines requiring girls to put on headscarves which led to mass anti-government protests and a lethal crackdown in 2022.

One other individual was important of the price of Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“Fordo and Natanz, and the Iranian nuclear programme normally, had been the tears of my eyes and the blood of your hearts. They reduce the nation’s throats for years, they usually elevated the nuclear funds to construct these services,” they wrote.

Farhad – not his actual title – mentioned: “I am not completely happy about what occurred, however the Islamic Republic’s previous method was not bearable. I hope future awaits Iran.”

At a crossing on Iran’s border with Armenia, one younger lady who had fled Tehran together with her household in the meantime informed the BBC she didn’t assist regime change imposed by international powers in Iran.

“We had been making an attempt to make modifications ourselves inside, and I do not suppose a change coming from US or Israel can be change,” she mentioned.