Nowhere feels safe from attack

A relative of mine was stuck in traffic for eight hours trying to reach an area just over 10 miles outside Tehran to see her 97-year-old mother, who is ill.

Another friend lives near Sepah Square in central Tehran. Her house was shaking yesterday, so she left for her daughter’s home in the neighborhood of Gisha last night.

Then the police station in Gisha was hit. Her family cried nonstop and eventually decided to leave for the north near the Caspian Sea.

A close friend lives near Saadabad Palace, built by the Pahlavi dynasty, and Tajrish on the edge of Tehran.

A bomb blast shattered her windows. She could barely speak on the phone and was in a panic, saying “I don’t want to talk now.” It is a wealthy neighborhood and perhaps a high ranking official lives nearby — we don’t know.

Not everyone has somewhere to go.

Another friend had just adopted a puppy. The dog is only six weeks old and has just been vaccinated, so now she cannot leave her home. She cannot safely move with the puppy.

And then there are the wounded. A hospital in northwest Tehran was filled with injured people, ordinary civilians and members of the Basij, a voluntary militia that is a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

During the 12-day war last year, people slowly became used to the tension.

But this feels different. Older generations say they do not deserve this from the Iran-Iraq war to 25 years of negotiations that led nowhere.