Month: March 2026

Vatican Post – Iran warns US over ‘boots on the ground’ reports

Iran’s parliament speaker warned that Iranian forces are “waiting for American soldiers to enter on the ground so they can rain fire upon them,” as tensions across the Middle East continue to rise.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s comments came after the United States said about 3,500 personnel had arrived in the region aboard the USS Tripoli.

The Pentagon is preparing for potential weeks of ground operations in Iran, though it is unclear whether President Donald Trump will authorize them, the Washington Post reported.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that Washington could meet its objectives in Iran “without any ground troops.”

Strikes continued across the region. Israel said it targeted temporary command centers in Tehran.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency, or Hrana, reported at least 701 attacks across Iran as of 5 p.m. ET on March 28, one of the highest single‑day totals since the war began a month ago.

Infrastructure in Gulf states has also been hit. Emirates Global Aluminium said its main plant in Abu Dhabi was “significantly damaged.”

Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched missile strikes toward Israel on Saturday and said more attacks would follow.

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Sydney Morning Herald – ‘Ideally people will come out and overthrow the regime. But it’s complicated’

We see so much news about the war in the Middle East that it is easy to overlook what is not being described in the daily coverage of Iran. And that makes Shiva Mahbobi angry, because she is worried about the cruelty of the Iranian leaders – and what they might do next in their desperation to retain power.

“People are getting arrested every single day,” she says. “They still get executed, and if normal people dare to come on the street to protest, they will be shot dead.” In all the coverage of the war, she says, the media is overlooking the repression by the regime. “That makes me angry. It’s a completely distorted image of what’s going on in Iran.”

We are speaking in London, a long way from the missiles, but Mahbobi is part of an Iranian community that is enmeshed in the war. Like others in the diaspora, she hopes for messages or phone calls from family and friends inside Iran who can tell her what’s happening. And, like others, she wants this conflict to weaken the regime.

This may be a challenging view for those who totally oppose the airstrikes, but this is a war about Iran – and it makes sense to listen to Iranian voices.

Mahbobi was first arrested at the age of 12 for protesting against the closure of her school in Kurdistan, where she was raised. She was arrested again at the age of 16 and spent three years in prison, where she was tortured. She fled Iran and now lives in London, where she is the spokeswoman for the Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran.

“As a woman, you know, everything is against you in that regime,” she says. “You are a criminal. You have committed an offence by being a woman in Iran.”

I’m speaking to her after making contact with a range of Iranians in London to hear their views on the war. I’ve spoken to some who believe the US and Israeli attacks will bring only death and chaos. I’ve found more, however, who want to see the end of the Islamic Republic after 47 years of dictatorship. When I went to the public protests on each side of the argument in London on February 28, I found the numbers were emphatically bigger at the march in favour of the war.

While some of the TV coverage from Iran shows people gathering to support the government, Mahbobi says nobody can rely on this footage. After all, hundreds of thousands of protesters marched against the regime in January. At least 6842 were killed by police and other authorities, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Mahbobi believes the death toll was more than 30,000. Right now, she says, nobody can assemble in the street to say what they really think.

“There is a regime operating inside Iran with fear: attacking people, arresting people, executing people, even at the time of the war,” she says. “I would say 99.9 per cent of people want the regime to go. That’s especially after the January protests. With the complexity of Iran, we need to understand that the regime is not just afraid of the US or Israel. They are petrified of people overthrowing them.”

There has been no uprising, of course. US President Donald Trump seemed to think his airstrikes would galvanise a popular movement to tear down the regime, only to find the clerics and their enforcers, like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were deeply entrenched. Mahbobi says there is not enough attention on the repression that makes this possible, such as the treatment of political prisoners: “They are left starving, without food, clean water or medication at all.”

Will there be regime change? “The public will is there,” she says. “But I don’t think regime change happens just by the attacks from Israel and the US.” While many in the Iranian diaspora see Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah, as the natural leader to replace the ayatollahs, he has spent the past 47 years in exile. There’s no consensus on how to replace the regime.

“In my view, Reza Pahlavi has no place in Iran,” says Mahbobi. “We actually have so many leaders inside the prisons – people who are able to become part of a government. To me, most of those leaders are inside Iran.” She spoke to the United Nations human rights committee in Geneva on March 16 about the need to help these leaders. She wants Western governments to expel Iranian diplomats and to list the IRGC as a terrorist organisation, as Australia has done.

What worries her is not just the harm to civilians from the war, but the risk of a deal that leaves the regime in place. This is the Venezuela model, where Trump swaps leaders and claims victory. “I believe that if any part of the regime is left, they’re going to take such a revenge on people that the situation would be worse.”

This is why she is wary of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even though she wants to see the Islamic Republic under attack. She worries that when the US and Israeli leaders feel their interests have been met, they may be willing to accept a repressive leader in Tehran.

“Ideally, people will come out on the street and overthrow the regime,” she says. “But it is complicated, because when there is a bombing going on, that’s not possible.” It is easy for foreign leaders to call for an uprising, of course. The fact is that some Iranians will pay with their lives if they protest.

I did not expect any easy answers when I got in touch with Mahbobi, and I did not get any. But this is a war where almost all the talking is done outside the country at the heart of the conflict – and, for me, that makes it even more important to hear from the people of Iran. Even if they have to live a long way from home.

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Yahoo – Iran warns US against ground offensive as troops amass in region

Iran on Sunday warned the United States against launching a ground offensive as Washington sends growing numbers of troops to the region and after reports of a planned invasion.

“Do not doubt for a moment the resolve of our soldiers,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf said, according to the state news agency IRNA.

Iran is certain that it can punish the US and make it repent so that it will no longer dare to attack the country, he said, adding that they are in the midst of a “major world war.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned Washington of the consequences of a possible ground offensive for US troops.

“[US President Donald] Trump would, with such an action, throw US troops to the sharks in the Persian Gulf,” the IRGC said in comments to state broadcaster IRIB.

The elite forces described Trump as a “dishonest person lacking mental stability” and said he was directly responsible for the current crisis and the resulting damage.

Ghalibaf also expressed scepticism about attempts at mediation, saying the US may have signalled a willingness to negotiate, but was secretly planning a ground offensive.

The US military said on Saturday that additional sailors and marines had arrived in the Middle East aboard the USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship.

The forces joined thousands of US marines already deployed to the Middle East as part of a massive military build-up ahead of the Iran war, which began with US-Israeli attacks on the country on February 28.

On Sunday, US media then reported that the US military has drawn up plans for a possible ground operation in Iran.

The potential ground offensive would involve combined operations by regular infantry and special forces, but is not intended to be a full-scale invasion, the Washington Post reported, citing US officials. The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of such an operation, according to the newspaper.

A ground operation would mark an escalation into a dangerous new phase of the conflict, as US soldiers on the ground would be exposed to considerably greater dangers than before, such as fire from Iranian drones and missiles, combat and improvised explosive devices, the report said.

It was unclear whether US President Donald Trump will approve the plans.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that up to 10,000 additional US troops who may be deployed to the Gulf region are likely to be infantrymen.

The Washington Post sources, who spoke anonymously about the highly sensitive military plans, said preparations for a possible ground offensive have been ongoing for weeks.

Axios also reported recently on military plans that envisage the deployment of ground troops, alongside bombing raids, for a “final strike” to end the war on Iran.

The reports came as the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey travelled to Pakistan for a planned two days of talks on Sunday and Monday on de-escalating the war.

Pakistan, which shares an around 900-kilometre-long border with Iran, has offered to act as a mediator for negotiations to end the conflict.

Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Saturday that Iran had agreed to allow additional Pakistani-flagged vessels to pass through the vital Strait of Hormuz, in what observers saw as a confidence-building measure within the framework of mediation efforts.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Friday that preparations were under way for a direct meeting between representatives of the US and Iran, which could take place “fairly soon at short notice in Pakistan.”

Fighting continued in the region on Sunday as the Israeli military reported attacks on Tehran and other targets.

Iran’s Fars news agency, which is linked to the IRGC, reported missiles striking a residential area to the south of Tehran. Ten people died in the attack, including six Afghan migrants, Fars said.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on Saturday that the attacks on Iran over recent days had been the heaviest since the current war began on February 28. It said 74% of the attacks had targeted the Tehran region.

The organization put the death toll thus far at 3,400, including at least 1,500 civilians.

Iranian forces also continued attacks on Israel, where air raid sirens were heard in cities in the south. Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service said there were no reports of injuries. Iranian media confirmed the attacks.

Israeli media reported that the attacks had targeted Dimona in the Negev desert, where Israel’s nuclear reactor is located.

The United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states continue to face Iranian attacks – launched in retaliation for the US-Israeli offensive.

The UAE’s Defence Ministry reported that the country’s air defences had intercepted 16 missiles and 42 drones on Sunday.

The country has repelled Iranian attacks involving more than 410 missiles, 1,900 drones and 15 cruise missiles since the war began four weeks ago, it said. So far, 11 people have been killed, including two soldiers, and around 180 others injured.

The armed forces in the small Gulf state of Bahrain reported that 170 missiles and 390 drones have been intercepted there to date.

In Bahrain, as in Kuwait, warning sirens sounded again on Sunday due to ongoing attacks.

An attack on an army base injured 10 soldiers in Kuwait. The military reported 14 “hostile” missiles and 12 drones in Kuwaiti airspace within 24 hours.

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry said Sunday that 10 drones had been intercepted and destroyed during the night and early hours of the morning.

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The Hill – Pope Leo: God ‘does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war’

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday said that God “does not listen to the prayers” of individuals who start wars, as the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran continues.

“Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” the first American pope, citing a Bible passage, told congregants in St. Peter’s Square, according to The Associated Press.

“He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them,” he added.

The pontiff’s remarks came on Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week that culminates in Easter. It is also not the first time he has criticized the war in Iran, which began on Feb. 28.

On March 1, the day after the U.S. and Israel began striking Iran, he wrote on the social platform X, “Stability and peace are not achieved through mutual threats, nor through the use of weapons, which sow destruction, suffering, and death, but only through reasonable, sincere, and responsible dialogue.”

Since the conflict began, at least 1,551 civilians in Iran, including at least 236 children, have been killed as of Saturday, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). At least 1,208 Iranian military personnel and 702 “unclassified” individuals have also been killed, HRANA added.

Seven U.S. service members have also been killed by Iranian retaliation, while six troops died when a refueling aircraft crashed over Iraq on March 12. The Lebanese Health Ministry also said Friday that Israeli attacks have killed 1,142 people, while civilians in Israel, Iraq and Kuwait have also been killed in the fighting.

Also on Sunday morning, the Pope expressed solidarity with Christians in the Middle East, as Iran’s retaliation after the initial wave of U.S.-Israeli strikes engulfed the region in war. There are more than 12.9 million Christians in the Middle East as of 2020, according to the Pew Research Center.

“At the beginning of Holy Week, our prayers are more than ever with the Christians of the #MiddleEast, who are suffering the consequences of a brutal conflict and, in many cases, are unable to observe fully the liturgies of these holy days,” the pontiff wrote on X. “Just as the Church contemplates the mystery of the Lord’s Passion, we cannot forget those who today are truly sharing in his suffering.

“Their ordeal challenges all our consciences. Let us raise our prayer to the Prince of Peace that he may sustain the peoples wounded by war and open concrete paths to reconciliation and #peace. #PrayTogether”

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The Washington Post – Nearly 1,500 Iranian civilians killed in U.S., Israeli strikes, report says

Nearly 1,500 Iranian civilians have been killed in dozens of U.S. and Israeli strikes that have hit schools, hospitals and other nonmilitary infrastructure since the Iran war began last month, a consortium of human rights groups alleged in a report issued Friday.

Researchers recorded 1,443 civilian fatalities — at least 217 of them children — from the start of hostilities on Feb. 28 through Monday, according to the report, which described the figures as “verified minimums” expected to rise as assessments — and airstrikes — continue. The findings, which appear to be the most comprehensive estimates yet of the war’s growing civilian toll, do not specify whether U.S. or Israeli forces are suspected to have conducted each of the individual strikes cited.

The report is certain to anger opponents of President Donald Trump’s decision to start the conflict alongside Israel and heighten scrutiny of the administration’s actions to de-emphasize the protection of civilians in military campaigns. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has publicly denounced what he says are the overly restrictive rules of engagement that guided recent U.S. wars, and the Pentagon under his leadership sought to dismantle a congressionally mandated office focused on mitigating civilian harm.

Critics have accused Israel, too, of disregarding international laws intended to safeguard civilians in war zones, notably in Gaza and Lebanon where tens of thousands have been reported killed amid its campaign to destroy adversaries supported by Iran.

“Children are being killed at school. Men are dying at checkpoints as they try to move their families … Women are being killed while waiting in line for bread. Medics are being killed while responding to emergencies,” Skylar Thompson, deputy director of Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA), which co-authored the report, told The Washington Post. “These patterns of harm raise serious legal concerns regarding the conduct of hostilities and demand accountability.”

The report concluded that major factors contributing to the loss of civilian life have included “targeting errors and misidentification” linked to old or flawed intelligence, the use of explosives in dense urban areas and focused attacks on infrastructure that could serve both civilian and military needs, including transportation and energy systems.

Attacking civilian infrastructure is a violation of the laws of armed conflict, human rights experts have said. Trump in recent days has threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s electrical plants in a bid to gain leverage over Tehran as he demands that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened. The waterway’s closure has throttled global oil markets and caused gas prices to rise sharply, including in the United States.

The report states that public statements by U.S. officials show that the United States has not adhered to legal requirements to minimize civilian harm.

The report also cites what it says are the contradictory warnings to Iranian civilians issued by the U.S. and Israel. As hostilities began, Trump and the U.S. military instructed civilians to shelter at home. Israel urged people near military sites to evacuate. And both governments communicated many of their warnings via social media, a significant complication, the report notes, as most Iranians have had little to no internet access amid the conflict.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations throughout the Middle East, declined to address questions about the report’s findings. In a brief statement, Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, Centcom’s spokesman, said that “U.S. forces do not target civilians, unlike the Iranian regime which has indiscriminately targeted and attacked innocent people in neighboring countries more than 300 times” since the conflict began.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement in response to the report that says the goal of its campaign is “to put an end to the existential threat posed by the Iranian regime to the State of Israel.” The IDF, it says, directs its strikes “exclusively against lawful military objectives in accordance with the Laws of Armed Conflict, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions during strikes.”

As The Post reported this month, flawed targeting probably played a role in a strike that hit a girls’ school in southern Iran. The building is adjacent to an Iranian military facility but in the last several years was walled off from the base, a development that may have been missed by military analysts responsible for studying changes at potential strike locations, according to people familiar with the issue.

At least 168 children were killed — and 110 civilians were injured — in the strike, according to the report, which Thompson says combined publicly available data and witness accounts to verify the death toll.

The Pentagon ordered a formal investigation of the school strike after an initial review, officials said, a tacit acknowledgment that the attack was carried out by U.S. forces and that civilian harm allegations appear to be credible. To date, U.S. officials have not explicitly accepted responsibility for the attack. If the investigation’s findings do affirm that U.S. forces were at fault, the incident would represent the largest confirmed civilian death toll from any single U.S. attack since 1991.

The report found that at least 43 other Iranian schools had been damaged in attacks since the conflict began.

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La Voce di New York – Iran Attacks a US Base in Saudi Arabia: 12 Troops Injured

Iranian forces struck the US military base Prince Sultan in Saudi Arabia, injuring twelve American soldiers, two of them seriously, and also damaging at least two KC-135 refueling aircraft.

The raid, carried out using missiles and drones, represents one of the most serious breaches of U.S. air defenses during the war in the Middle East, which began exactly one month ago.

The attack comes as President Trump continues to waver between promises of peace and an escalation of targeted strikes against Tehran’s critical infrastructure.

The president said that talks with the other side are ongoing and progressing well, despite the deployment of additional warships and thousands of troops to support U.S. forces. On Thursday, Trump extended by ten days, until April 6, the suspension of threats to strike Iranian energy infrastructure, after Tehran rejected a 15-point US proposal to end hostilities.

At the same time, despite the president’s statements, Iranian officials reiterated that no discussions with the United States have taken place.

During the war, Iran has bombed US bases across the Middle East, using a vast arsenal of ballistic missiles and drones.

The bombardments have severely damaged military facilities and forced the US Central Command to relocate thousands of troops to move them away from the line of fire.

According to Central Command, nearly 300 American service members have been injured since the start of the war, about 225 of whom suffered traumatic brain injuries caused by explosions. Almost all of them have since returned to duty. Thirteen US fatalities have been recorded since the beginning of the conflict.

The vast majority of the dead and injured reported so far has been in Iran, which has been subjected to relentless attacks by U.S. and Israeli forces, and in Lebanon.

Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that more than 1,492 civilians have been killed in Iran, out of a total of over 3,300 victims. In Lebanon, the Ministry of Health said Thursday that more than 1,110 people have died. More than 50 people have been killed in Gulf countries, and at least 16 in Iranian attacks against Israel.

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Hawar News Agency – 24 killed, 88 injured in Iran, East Kurdistan in one day

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on Sunday that 24 people were killed and 88 others injured in the past 24 hours as a result of hundreds of attacks targeting sites in Iran and East Kurdistan.

The agency stated that at least 700 attacks were carried out in 21 provinces, targeting 29 military bases, as well as sites belonging to the Revolutionary Guard and Basij forces, military airports, police stations, oil wells, and nuclear facilities.

The report indicated that most of the attacks were concentrated in the provinces of Isfahan, Tabriz, Khorasan Razavi, Yazd, Zanjan, Alborz, and the capital Tehran.

HRANA also stated that the number of civilian casualties since the start of the war, according to unofficial statistics, has reached 1,551, including 236 children.

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New York Times – Iran War Live Updates: Israel Vows to Seize More Territory in Lebanon and Strikes Hit Iranian Port

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he had ordered his forces to increase the territory they control in southern Lebanon, as 2,500 U.S. Marines arrived in the Middle East, the latest sign that the monthlong war in the region was far from winding down.

The U.S.-Israeli bombardment of Iran continued on Sunday, with strikes on a TV station in Tehran and a port in the country’s south, where at least five people were killed. Iran fired repeated volleys of ballistic missiles at Israel without causing casualties, although a fire was reported at an industrial park in southern Israel that includes a hazardous waste facility.

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BBC – ‘My daughter is under the rubble’: Inside Tehran as civilian toll of strikes rises

A mother stands by the rubble, crying out for her daughter.

For days she has been waiting for rescue workers to dig through the flattened remains of what was once her daughter’s flat in Resalat, a residential district in eastern Tehran.

“They don’t have the manpower to get her out,” the woman says.

“My daughter is under the rubble… she’s afraid of the dark.”

For a month, Iran has been at war with the US and Israel, which have been carrying out strikes across the country at targets linked to the regime.

But these attacks are also having a devastating impact on civilians living nearby.

They are now being caught between bombardment from the skies and a repressive regime that responded to anti-establishment protests with a deadly crackdown in January.

The BBC is rarely allowed into Iran and has not not been given access since the war began.

We’ve gathered eyewitness testimony, filmed the aftermath of strikes and analysed footage from social media and satellite imagery.

Our analysis shows there has been a series of attacks on state-linked targets that are embedded in civilian neighbourhoods in Tehran, with deadly consequences for those living around them.

Dozens of families had lived in the multi-storey apartment building in Resalat before it was destroyed by an Israeli air strike on 9 March.

The daughter trapped in the rubble had been living in the complex with her husband and own young daughter.

Days after the strike, she and her daughter were found dead under the rubble. The husband survived.

Another apartment building, across the road, was also destroyed in the air strike.

A man, 55, living in an apartment there, said the strike was “so sudden” and he was “thrown across the room”.

He says everything he owns is now buried beneath the debris.

“I don’t have anything now… All my documents, everything, it’s gone.”

Local authorities and residents say between 40 and 50 people were killed in this single attack.

Those made homeless are currently staying at a hotel nearby.

“This was our life,” the man adds.

The Israel Defense Forces told the BBC World Service it had targeted a military building used by the Iranian Basij, a paramilitary force linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

But analysis of the aftermath suggests the impact extended far beyond that single site.

Satellite imagery taken in the days after the strike shows at least four buildings destroyed in quick succession.

While one was well known to be associated with the Basij, surrounding structures appear to have been residential.

Footage from the scene, verified by BBC Eye, shows widespread destruction across the neighbourhood. Our analysis indicates that buildings up to 65m away were heavily damaged by the blast.

Residents also describe multiple explosions within seconds of each other.

“They hit three times,” one survivor says.

“Maybe three or five seconds between them… I tried to stand up, but the rubble came down on my head.”

Military experts told BBC Eye that the Israeli air force is likely using particularly large bombs across Tehran from the Mark 80 series, which are often fitted with precision guidance systems.

They added that the scale and spread of the damage observed in Resalat is consistent with the use of the Mark 84, the largest of the series, weighing 2,000lb (907kg).

Unexploded bombs matching these types have been photographed in the city.

The UN has previously urged countries and armed groups at war to avoid using powerful bombs in highly populated areas because of the danger to civilian lives.

BBC Eye has spoken to two international humanitarian law experts, who believe that the use of such a heavy bomb in a densely populated area would be disproportionate, considering the potential harm to civilians, and possibly unlawful.

Resalat is not an isolated case.

Since the start of the conflict, the Israel Defense Forces said it had dropped more than 12,000 bombs across Iran and 3,600 bombs on Tehran alone.

US Central Command says it has struck more than 9,000 targets across Iran.

Many of these US and Israeli strikes have targeted police stations, Basij militia buildings, police headquarters, military and police universities, safe houses, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) homes, as well as potential ammunition stores and checkpoints.

Often, these targets are located within busy civilian neighbourhoods.

On 1 March, an Israeli strike hit the Abbasabad police station near Niloufar Square, where families had gathered after breaking their Ramadan fast.

Eyewitnesses describe seeing at least 20 people killed, though the BBC has not verified this number.

Witnesses described a “terrifying light” followed by multiple explosions.

“We ran into the street,” one man said.

“A man and a woman had just come out of a shop… they were hit immediately.”

Residents reported multiple strikes in quick succession on the same target.

“It wasn’t even two minutes,” another witness said.

“When we came back, they hit again.”

The IDF confirmed it was responsible for the attack, saying it “struck a military target”.

BBC Eye analysis of the blast zone suggests that, as in Resalat, the damage extended well beyond the named target.

Under international humanitarian law, all parties to a conflict must distinguish between civilian objects and military objectives.

The expected harm to civilians or civilian buildings must be proportionate to the expected military advantage gained from that particular action.

It also requires sides to avoid, as far as feasible, basing military targets within or near densely populated areas.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says that 1,464 civilians including at least 217 children have been killed in Iran in the first month of the conflict.

Residents told BBC Eye that strikes hitting residential areas risk deepening resentment, even among those who had previously been critical of the Iranian regime.

The BBC asked the IDF about the incidents in this report. It confirmed the strikes but made no further comment. The US Department of Defense did not respond.

Iran has also struck civilian infrastructure and residential buildings in nearby countries during the war, such as airports and hotels, notably in Gulf nations allied with Washington.

In Tehran, residents criticised the Iranian authorities for their response to the war.

They told the BBC there had been little visible provision of basic safety measures, including public shelters, evacuation support or temporary accommodation for those displaced.

Several people we spoke to said they had received no guidance on where to go or how to protect themselves during attacks.

“There are no sirens, no warnings,” one resident said. “You just hear the explosion.”

In the absence of clear communication, and amid an ongoing internet blackout, many described feeling exposed and uncertain, unsure when or where the next strike might hit.

The Iranian government has not publicly detailed any nationwide civil defence protocols in response to the attacks.

The United States and Israel say they are targeting the infrastructure of the Iranian state.

But in a city where that infrastructure sits side-by-side with homes, shops and schools, the consequences are being felt far beyond the named targets.

For those living through it, that pressure is measured in homes lost, families shattered, and a growing sense that nowhere is truly safe.

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The Jerusalem Post – Trump says he was told Mojtaba Khamenei may be gay, spotlighting Iran’s brutal anti-gay persecution

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