Iranians, Home and Abroad, Want Change. But Are Divided on the War | The Walrus

"The last time Iran was bombed, in June 2025, my grandmother was in her nineties and living with full-time nurse care at her apartment near Salmas Square, in Tehran. The apartment she'd lived in for almost forty years, with the wide cracks on the ceiling. With the thick frosted-glass entrance and the thick frosted-glass bathroom door."

"This was during the conflict that's now known as the Twelve-Day War, which started when Israel attacked Iran on June 13, triggering retaliation from Iran and intervention from the United States. I used to check the Israel Defense Forces' posts on Instagram every day, waiting for the announcement about which neighbourhoods they would target."

"Once the war was over, and internet access was back, and we could talk to our relatives in Iran, here is what my mother learned had happened during those twelve days: the two regular nurses on rotation had left my grandma, and a string of temporary nurses hired in their place left too."

During Iran's Twelve-Day War in June 2025, triggered by Israeli attacks and US intervention, a family in Toronto received news of bombing campaigns targeting Tehran neighborhoods. The narrator's grandmother lived in District 6, the area marked for targeting by the Israeli Defense Forces. With limited communication access during the conflict, the family could only confirm survival through a brief phone connection. The grandmother's regular nursing care collapsed as nurses fled the capital during bombardment. An aunt eventually located a nurse willing to remain, ensuring the elderly woman's safety throughout the twelve-day conflict. The family's relief at the grandmother's survival reflects the profound anxiety of maintaining connections across war zones.

Read at The Walrus