Warning: this article contains details which some readers may find distressing.
Until that moment the war was something happening in other parts of Tehran.
It had not touched the lives of 'Setareh' and her colleagues. Then she heard an ominous noise and vibrations reached into the office.
She called out to her workmates: I think it's a bomb. They left their desks and climbed the stairs to the roof of the building.
We saw smoke rising into the sky, but we didn't know what place had been targeted, she recalls.
After that, everyone working in the company panicked. People were shouting and screaming and running away. For one to two hours the situation stayed like that - complete chaos. That same day her boss shut the business and laid off his staff.
Now the nightly bombing has stolen her ability to sleep naturally. She lies awake worrying about the present, and the future.
I can honestly say I haven't slept for several nights and days in a row. I try to relax by taking very strong painkillers so I can sleep. The anxiety is so intense that it has affected my body. When I think about the future and imagine those conditions, I truly don't know what to do.
By those conditions she means economic hardship and her fear of future street fighting between the regime and its enemies. The war has cost Setareh her job and she is running out of money.
Millions of Iranians are in a similar position. Even before the war, the economy was in deep crisis, with food prices rising by 60% in the previous year. Setareh describes mounting desperation as people run out of resources to survive.
We cannot afford even basic food. What's in our pockets does not match market prices... Iran has also been under sanctions for years, and the problems created by the Islamic Republic means that during this time we couldn't build any savings, at least enough to survive now or depend on something. To put it simply, the people I thought might have money to lend also don't have anything.
Economic hardship spurred protests in late 2025 and early 2026, and Setareh believes it will happen again.
I don't know how this massive wave of unemployment will be handled. There is no support system and the government will do nothing for all these unemployed people. I believe the real war will start if this war ends without any outcome.
We received information from sources on the ground in six different cities. These were conversations with individuals from a cross-section of society - shopkeepers, taxi drivers, public sector workers and others.
All described growing economic pressure and most spoke of their hope that the war might bring about the fall of the government.
Tina, a nurse in a hospital outside Tehran, is worried about medicine shortages and says, The shortage is not yet widespread, but it is starting.
The most important issue is that this war must not reach hospitals. If the conflict continues and infrastructure is targeted and medicines cannot be imported, then we will face very serious problems.
She is haunted by the images of war she has witnessed. Bodies arriving at the hospital were often unrecognizable due to the extent of their injuries.
Behnam, a former political prisoner, believes the regime would respond with violence against dissenters. He is still in hiding after being injured during protests and has prepared in case violence erupts again.
As the war continues with no end in sight, citizens like Setareh and Tina remain trapped between fear and hope, haunted by the past yet looking for a chance to break free from a repressive regime.
