This is what the war and the situation looks like from within Iran
from Golshan Fathi, civil activist living in Tehran

Golshan Fathi, a civil activist living in Tehran, has described what is happening in Iran:

“We have no internet here.

Satellite signals are heavily jammed.

The Islamic Republic’s television shows an image of ‘complete calm’:

They say Israel has been destroyed, America has been defeated, and countries in the region have fallen to their knees. People are standing beside the system and are ready to give their lives for the Leader.

On the other side, Iran International presents a different story from the country:

They say the Islamic Republic has collapsed and no civilians have been killed, that civilian sites have not been targeted, and that the ‘Operation for the Liberation of Iran’ continues.

But the reality on the ground is something else.

The city is under heavy bombardment and missile attacks. The wealth belonging to the people of Iran is being destroyed one by one before our eyes.

The sound of explosions is real. The fear is real. A friend in the medical examiner’s office reported that 1,500 death certificates have been issued. We constantly check our mobile signal so the only way to get news from our loved ones does not get cut off. Any kind of activity has been criminalized by the Islamic Republic.

Even so, people have not abandoned one another.

Hospitals are open, and each hospital has a number of wounded.

Gas stations are operating.

Bottled water is available—only more expensive.

Today at 7 a.m. I went to donate blood.

In a city under bombardment, I saw a line of people who had come to save the lives of their fellow citizens.

We are under so much pressure from worry and war that I burst into tears.

These people, despite all the fear and exhaustion, are still standing together.

Yet in this same city, Basij neighborhood patrols shout slogans, chant, and every night stage ‘Heydar Heydar’ parades.

The bread lines are long and exhausting.

Chlorine tablets and antidepressants are almost impossible to find.

And in these same conditions, the government still lies in its media.

They have taken the internet away from the people.

The economy has stalled and food prices have multiplied.

Those of us in the middle of a war-stricken city must pay one million Tomans for two days of connection to the world through a VPN, just to maybe find out what is happening inside and outside.

We are in the heart of a crisis, in the heart of war, and even the right to know has been taken from us.

Shame on a government that, in the middle of bombs and missiles, still considers its greatest skill to be lying to its own people.”

— This account was written by Golshan Fathi, a civil activist living in Tehran, under her real name on the social network X. It was published amid war, internet restrictions, and an atmosphere where many words must inevitably be written with caution.