In a park overlooking Tehran, a group of young people gathered to joke and chat, fragments of life persisting as bombs fall. For residents, the phrase 'don't die' has become a stark goodbye, encapsulating the daily struggle for survival amid escalating Israeli strikes on Iran.
The attacks, which began last Saturday, have been described by one anonymous Tehran resident as indiscriminate, hitting schools, hospitals and urban amenities. 'The pretence of precision is gone,' they wrote in a Guardian account. 'It feels aimed at demolition, total destruction, the flattening of the city.'
The writer draws parallels to Beirut's experience of periodic violence, coining the term 'Beirutification' to describe the normalisation of attacks until blasts become woven into urban life. 'It is urban death by a thousand knives,' they said, warning of a similar fate unfolding in Tehran.
Many residents have fled the capital or remain trapped at home. Loud explosions and distant rumblings are becoming routine, shattering the long-held Iranian perception that Middle Eastern wars were someone else's problem. 'Now it is here. Real. Terrifying,' the writer noted.
Despite the fear, life continues in fragments. The writer recounted meeting youngsters in a park who used humour to ease their anxiety. As they parted, one said: 'Don't die.' The writer reflected on the brutal honesty of that sentence: 'It said everything about the conundrum we live in. About survival itself.'
The writer, a long-time critic of the Iranian state, rejected the notion that opposing war equates to supporting the regime. 'Criticism of one's own government does not mean welcoming the destruction of one's society,' they wrote, urging a rejection of imperialist narratives and a return to diplomacy.
