'Nobody deserves to suffer like this': Tehran under Israeli bombardment

France 24

17-06-2025

Iranian authorities have announced that at least 224 people have been killed since the Israeli attacks began. According to the spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Health, "1,481 people have been injured or killed', with 90 percent of them being civilians.
On the night of June 12 to 13, as the first strikes hit, many Iranian social media accounts described experiencing what felt like an earthquake.
Starting June 15, the Israeli army called on Iranians living near military or nuclear facilities to evacuate their homes.
However, one of our Observers told us: 'We don't know where these facilities are to avoid them. There could be buildings next to me. How should I know?' This opinion was widely shared by other Iranians on social media.
'This is the north side of our apartment,' our Observer says in this video filmed just after a strike hit a neighbouring building. 'As you can see, the building was hit and destroyed, including the kitchen, bedrooms, and only the south side of our bedrooms, which saved our lives.'
'I'm just trying to survive, my brain doesn't work'
On June 13, Maral – whose name has been changed to protect her identity – was woken up when a strike hit an adjacent building. The blast from the attack destroyed her kitchen and living room.
Only the bedroom is still relatively intact, if you can call it intact. We asked what had happened, and almost all the neighbours said that something had happened in the middle of the alley, and the sirens were going off. We understood that a house that was right behind our house was hit.
We stepped on the ruins of the house and came out. I still didn't know what had happened. After a while, some neighbours came up to us to enquire if we were safe. They told us that it looked like Israel had attacked, and later we read on the internet that several places in Tehran had been hit by Israel.
'We are always victims of Israel and all the warmongers of the world'
I am experiencing very strong emotions, even now; I am extremely scared, anxious, sad, among other things. And well, I can't understand it, I can't say exactly what I felt. I thought this was the beginning of a war and that bombs would keep raining down on us. I thought that we would be hit again now. In those first moments, I looked up at the sky to see if I could see anything. And while I was having all these feelings, there were also moments when I thought, quite logically, that I should call people to check on them. It's a very, very complicated experience.
Nobody deserves to suffer like this. I'm just trying to survive, my brain doesn't work. I can't process and analyse this, but what I can say is that we are always victims of the policies of the Islamic Republic, and we are always victims of Israel and all the warmongers of the world. The ordinary people are always the victims. I hope that everything will end quickly.
On June 16, the Israeli army published an evacuation notice for certain areas of Tehran, a city home to approximately 10 million inhabitants. On the same day, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that 'Tehran will burn' if Iran continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front.
Amid escalating Israeli airstrikes on residential districts and increasingly threatening rhetoric from Israeli officials, many Tehran residents decided to leave the city.
Multiple videos and testimonies gathered by the FRANCE 24 Observers team confirm unprecedented traffic jams on the roads and highways around the capital.
'We evacuated the city, but it took us 30 hours. On an ordinary day, we could get there in 3 hours,' one resident told us.
"They struck the apartment across from us," a woman wrote on a video. "A body was thrown into our apartment," she added.
'The city is half empty, lots of people have left, and shops are closed'
However, others, like Farshad – whose name has also been changed – opted to stay in the capital.
Two nights ago and yesterday at noon, the attacks were horrible, and the explosions were huge. My wife was really scared and we decided that it's better if she left, but I decided to stay at our home. Every attempt to leave the city is not successful, though. My brother also wanted to leave the city. He spent more than 24 hours stuck in traffic and eventually turned back.
The city is half empty, lots of people have left, and shops are closed. I'd say that after the Israeli attacks started and until Saturday night, the situation was not like this, even coffee shops were open. However, after the heavy bombing of Saturday night, and more importantly, the car bombings of yesterday, many people decided to leave the city. I think it was the moment when the phrase, 'they don't hit the civilians,' lost its reasoning among people. However, if I tell you that Tehran is a ghost town, it would be an exaggeration; I still see families walking in the streets.
I don't see people running or attacking bakeries or grocery shops. The population stayed civilised, at least for the moment.
Regarding the general feeling of people, I have to say that I see anger and hatred toward both sides. Before the attack of Israel on Iran, many experts were saying that another massive protest in the coming weeks is inevitable due to the economic crisis and social pressure of the regime. However, as the attacks continue, and especially after the civilians were killed, I see that more and more people who hate the regime are turning against these attacks and Israel. However, it's too soon to say anything; this anger could go toward any side of the conflict.