JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected President Trump's call for unconditional surrender in the war with Israel. While the Supreme leader hit a defiant note, inside the capital, Tehran, streets are choked with traffic as people race to get out of the city to escape Israeli airstrikes. Many Iranians say they're scared not only of the Israeli missiles, but of the future. NPR has been talking with several people in Iran. NPR's international security correspondent Jackie Northam has this report on what they're going through.
JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE: NPR began contacting Iranians shortly after Israel launched its first strikes against the country. We spoke with one woman, Zara (ph), a 30-year-old unemployed fashion designer from Hamadan to the southwest of Tehran. Like others interviewed for this story, she doesn't want her full name used out of fear of retribution from the government. Zara, who spoke with an NPR translator, says she was overjoyed with the first Israeli strikes because they were killing senior leaders of the hard-line regime. Zara says that euphoria quickly passed as the missiles continued to rain down.
ZARA: (Through interpreter) As days pass, fear, anxiety and uncertainty are taking over. We don't know what we should do. We don't have internet. We have no access to reliable news.
NORTHAM: Dina (ph), a 48-year-old marketing specialist in Tehran, says an oil depot near her home was hit by an Israeli missile and was still burning. She says the Iranian regime is telling people to stay at home. Dina says when the Israeli military ordered parts of Tehran to evacuate, things began to move.
DINA: (Through interpreter) When the first statement from the Farsi-speaking Israeli military spokesman came out, Tehran got so busy. I mean, I left work at 2 p.m. There were kilometers-long gas station lines and heavy traffic on roads out of Tehran.
NORTHAM: There are growing shortages of bread, flour and other basics. Israeli missiles are hitting Iran's critical infrastructure, military installations, as well as residential areas. Sam (ph), a 24-year-old university student, says the number of strikes seems to have slowed down but are more intense.
SAM: (Through interpreter) As we go along and days pass by, there are reports of the killings of civilians and attacks on neighborhoods populated by civilians. Because of this, I experience fear and stress.
NORTHAM: Sam says he's afraid what happened in Gaza, which has been devastated by Israeli airstrikes following a 2023 attack by Hamas, could also happen in Iran. He says the Iranian regime is not protecting people.
SAM: (Through interpreter) People of Iran, myself included, seriously oppose Islamic Republic of Iran government. And they don't trust the government, but they expect the government to have a minimum of defense power. Unfortunately, Iran has not been able to protect its people the way it should. We don't have shelters or anything of the sort.
NORTHAM: Zara, the fashion designer, says she's facing many mixed emotions about what comes next. She's happy the Israelis are targeting senior Iranian leadership, but her growing fear is that the country is destroyed but the Iranian leadership somehow remains in place.
ZARA: (Through interpreter) If all the destruction we are tolerating does not at least bring this government down and doesn't give people some power, they're going to torture us indefinitely after that.
NORTHAM: And that an already paranoid regime, weakened by Israeli attacks, will crack down even harder on any sign of dissent. Jackie Northam, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
