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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
As told to Deepa Parent

Tehran diary: dark and bitter, the terror of life under US-Israeli bombardment

Flames and smoke rise from an oil depot during airstrikes in Tehran.
‘My chest has burned and I can barely breathe’: Smoke and flames rise above Tehran after a strike on an oil depot at the weekend. Photograph: SASAN/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images

It’s 5am on Thursday 12 March. I was finally falling asleep after a day full of fear when the phone rang. Terror rushes through me. It’s not the right time for a call. Someone must need help – or maybe they are alone and frightened.

I answer the phone, exhausted. It’s my younger sister. She is crying and cannot speak. My heart breaks into a thousand pieces. I haven’t seen her for many days. When I was released from prison, she had gone to another city to take care of our mother.

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