Thread by @aliostad

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Eyewitness account from family and friends on what goes on in life of ordinary Iranian during these times

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Talked to my brother last night, begged him to go to the North (Mazandaran and Gilan province) where my parents are now. He said no.

Today, when he was in his office in Sohrevardi in central north of Tehran, 4 locations were hit, some 100s of meters away.

1/

He decided to go to his home (in Gholhak, ~5km), get his stuff and hit the road. It took him 4.5 hours to get home - it would take 30 minutes usually. Once home, he realised no running water since the main pipe was taken out in an attack in Tajrish today.

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So he actually stayed tonight in Tehran, similar to all my cousins who were planning to leave Tehran today. The road from Tehran to the North is completely packed.

They are planning to leave tomorrow.

But how can you leave?

/3

You need petrol. But you are lucky if you have 30 litres of petrol in your car after queueing for 4 hours.

My father-in-law queued for 3 hours and was lucky to get petrol today (they give 25 litres max) and traveled to Isfahan from Tehran.

This is now, in a couple of days?

/4

I warned my parents that the banking system could be hit with a cyber attack and they need to get some cash. So he went to a bank where he had a friend and he managed to get some cash. How much cash?

He got 5M tomans, equivalent to $50. And only because of his friend.

/5

The food situation is worse. Out of 3 supermarkets near my brother's house, 2 were closed since they had little left to sell. Shops are empty.

My parents in the north said the same - I have urged them to buy what they can get. Because...

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The whole logistics network in Iran has imploded. Soon there will be no fuel, and on the back of Truck Drivers strike, the reserves were thin anyway.

I might be exaggerating but I can hardly imagine how the whole country could not collapse within a week.

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Is this what Israelis trying to do?

I don't know. But we have a powerless nation and a brutal regime and unfortunately Iranians are only witnessing the destruction of their lives, whether slowly under the regime, or fast under Israeli attacks.

/8

The mood is varied, is a mixture of shock, jubilation, horror and fear. We are fearful for our relatives. Things will be much worse in a week.

But as a nation, we have no choice but to be hopeful.

Woman, Life, Freedom. 🕊️🕊️🩶🖤🩶
💚🩶❤️

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PS: For those who stay, what are the options?

So far there has been zero sirens sounded for civilians. Zero instructions on what to do, other than not take picture. There is not a single shelter.

Some has resorted to sleep in metro stations. And there is no toilet or facility.

PS2: I was just told that some friends who had tried to leave Tehran for the North had to turn back after hours in traffic jam, especially in fear of running out of petrol.

Desparation and chaos gradually weighing in after euphoria of elimination of top IRGC commanders fading...

Update: scattered reports of shortage of bread especially around Tehran and Karaj.

Again, on the back of recent protests and strike of bakers, discontentment is high.

Islamic Republic thinking it could always manage with force and oppression, in desperate need of a unity spirit

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Update: my brother and all cousins are still stuck in Tehran. All routes outbound are locked in a terrible jam.

My brother also says logistics companies are "out of fuel and short of personnel" predicting hard times in northern provinces soon running out of all supplies.

Update: some family members report they could find what they needed in the shops with no problem in their area . They even ordered from Digikala (equivalent to Amazon) and it had stuff in stock - let's get it delivered.

More updates on scarcity: even Digikala is out of rice (and oil), generally big supermarkets are closed or have run out of some if not most items. Smaller shops more likely to have items.

Queues in petrol stations and bakeries everywhere.

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