‘Even under missiles we carry on living’ - how young Iranians are coping with war

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Ghoncheh HabibiazadBBC Persian

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Parts of Tehran are covered in snow, days after black rain fell on the capital

Snow fell in parts of Tehran on Tuesday night, blanketing the Iranian capital with a layer of white after air strikes on oil depots caused days of dark skies and black rain.

But life goes on, even as the war drags on.

Sahar, a woman in her 20s, told BBC Persian that she was spending most days sheltering at home in Tehran, cooking, reading, and playing a life simulation video game.

“I think my creativity has increased during the war. I’m constantly stressed and end up building prettier homes in the game,” she said.

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Sahar - whose name, as with the other contributors, has been changed for safety reasons - found out on Tuesday that a woman she had gone to school with had been killed.

“Her body hasn’t been found. I felt horrible after hearing it,” she said.

“Why do we have to experience such horror when we’re in the prime years of our youth? I just want this to end before Nowruz. My favourite days in life are the early days of spring.”

One man said Tehran’s streets were very quiet after more than a week of war

Fewer than 10 days remain until Nowruz, the Persian New Year festival, which marks the arrival of spring.

It is usually a time when families gather to celebrate. Markets and streets across Iran are crowded with people buying sweets and nuts for guests ahead of the holiday.

But this year that has not been the case, according to those living in Tehran.

“It doesn’t feel like the run-up to Nowruz. But even under missiles, we carry on living. We have no choice but to live,” said Peyman, a man in his 30s.

“The metro is empty. So empty that for every person there are 30 or 40 empty seats. The streets are very quiet as well… so quiet that you could easily play football in the middle of a street,” he added.

Another man in his 30s said: “My sleep schedule depends on the bombings now. I go to sleep at around six or seven in the morning and wake up at 2pm. Sometimes, I have to go out to buy groceries, but Tehran is very empty.”

Iranians would usually be celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year, next week

Tehran and its surrounding province have a population of 14 million, but some residents have left to seek safety elsewhere since the US and Israel began attacking Iran on 28 February.

Some headed north towards the Caspian Sea, where there have been fewer attacks.

Mina, a woman in her 20s, is one of them. She is now in the city of Rasht.

“My family kept insisting we go to Rasht to stay with my grandmother, but my best friend and flatmate didn’t want to leave Tehran. I felt guilty about leaving without her, so I didn’t want us to go,” she recalled.

“The night they hit the [oil] depots, our flat was shaking all the way to the front door. All the windows lit up as if it were morning.”

Reuters

Thick, black smoke filled the sky over Tehran after a strike on Shahran oil depot on Saturday

She added: "I kept thinking that if anything happened to my family, it would be my fault for saying we shouldn’t go to Rasht.

"The day after, we finally went to Rasht, in a car covered with patchy stains from the polluted rain.

“My best friend decided to stay in Tehran with her family, but I call her every day. We talk on the phone about all the exciting things we’ll do after the war is over. Maybe we’ll dye our hair lighter after this.”

Iran’s Caspian Sea coast has been less affected by the war than Tehran

It is still very difficult to contact those inside Iran amid the internet outage imposed by the government at the start of the war, but tech-savvy residents have been using Starlink devices and sharing their connection with others.

The satellite internet system has become a vital communications lifeline for some trying to contact the outside world. It operates like a mobile phone mast in space, using a constellation of satellites to communicate with small dishes on the ground that have a built-in WiFi router.

Using Starlink in Iran carries a punishment of up to two years in prison, and authorities have reportedly been searching for the dishes to stop people from connecting.

Mehran, in his 20s and living in Tehran, said he had been sharing his Starlink connection with at least 25 other people. He added that he had hidden the device “somewhere remote” to prevent the authorities from “finding or jamming” it.

He said he had allowed loved ones to connect to the service for free, though internet access is being sold on the Telegram messaging app for around $6 (£4.50) for1GB of data - a high price in a country where the average monthly salary is estimated to be between $200 and $300.

Some residents have fled Tehran, which has been struck repeatedly by Israeli and US forces

Shima, a woman in her 20s in Tehran who uses a Starlink connection to get online, said: “You have to buy it from someone you trust, otherwise there’s a chance they will cut off your internet after you’ve paid a hefty sum.”

Monitoring organisation NetBlocks said on Wednesday that the internet blackout in Iran had entered its 12th day, with connectivity still at just 1% of ordinary levels after 264 hours.

“The ridiculously expensive Starlink VPN I bought for emergencies takes a long time to connect, making me doubt whether it was worth spending so much money,” Shima said.

“But at least I can tell my loved ones abroad that I haven’t burnt to a crisp and I’m still alive.”

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