Amid Iran war, civilians trapped between bombs and regime

"I left the city after a building in our street was bombed. We saw multiple rockets coming down. Initially, the 42-year-old photographer expected targeted strikes against senior Iranian officials. She believed she could simply wait out the bombing in her apartment building, and hoped the military campaign would eventually bring liberation. But with bombs raining down on her neighborhood, she decided to flee."

"People who stayed behind are now facing the growing danger of acid rain, after the US-Israel strikes hit multiple oil depots around the Iranian capital. Thick, dark clouds of smoke gathered over the metropolis after the strikes, and the Iranian environment agency has urged citizens to stay at home. The Red Crescent warned that rain could contain chemicals harmful to skin and lungs."

"Oil tanks aren't the only sites being hit inside the densely populated Iranian city of nearly 10 million people. Every strike has reportedly claimed civilian lives and with officials not sounding air raid sirens and providing no access to bomb shelters, ordinary people don't know how to protect themselves."

A communications blackout has accompanied ongoing US-Israeli military operations against Iran, leaving many residents unreachable. A Tehran photographer fled the city after witnessing rocket strikes on her neighborhood, initially expecting targeted military operations but ultimately deciding to evacuate with her child to relatives' homes outside the capital. Destroyed oil depots around Tehran have created environmental hazards, with thick smoke clouds forming and authorities warning of potentially toxic rain containing chemicals harmful to skin and lungs. Civilian casualties have been reported across densely populated areas, yet officials have not activated air raid sirens or provided access to bomb shelters, leaving residents without adequate protection or information about how to safeguard themselves.

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