Iranian citizens described living in great fear and constant anxiety as the threat of military action against the Iranian regime looms overhead in an interview with N12 News published on Friday.
Dalara, from Karaj, a city west of Tehran, compared the anxiety surrounding the current threat of conflict to that of the 12-day war in June when “people understood that the attacks were targeted, specific, and that the risk of hitting civilian areas was low."
"Today I feel that people no longer have anything to lose,” Dalara continued. “They are waiting at any moment for external help to come in the form of war. Some say: 'I wish it would start already,' because they know that the more the war is postponed, the number of deaths will only increase."
Dalara told N12 that the fear began after the first few days of anti-regime protests broke out, “when the phones didn't work, the internet was down, and people didn't know what was happening to others.”
"At night, you can hardly leave the house,” she added, stating that Iranian regime forces can stop civilians, search their phones, enter their houses, and arrest them. “People have no sense of security. The anxiety starts from the moment you leave the house and stays until you return. We feel that the street is no longer safe."
Delara described the financial difficulties faced by everyday Iranians as regime crackdowns have brought about a halt to their normal way of life.
“Everyone is out of work,” she asserted. "Businesses are closed, no one has an income. Everyone is stuck,” adding that “endless anger” is growing among her people as they watch “the videos, the stories, the testimonies about the number of dead, the number of injured, how much torture and how many atrocities have happened.”
Iranians, according to Dalara, are anxiously awaiting an attack that may cripple the regime. "People have been waiting for the attack. Now they are also feeling despair: What if the attack is delayed? Every day that the attack is delayed, more people are killed, more are arrested, and more families are grieving."
She elaborated that “the sooner the war starts, the Iranian people will have the opportunity to build a better future for themselves,” sharing her hopes that “with the fall of this regime, and with the rise of a new government, it will be possible to build a free Iran.”
“The only way to save us is an external attack. We cannot face this empty-handed. Then, with a call to take to the streets, we will end it once and for all,” she added.
Iranians 'waiting for the blow to come'
Hali Reza, a resident of Tehran, shared similar anxieties to N12. Like Dalara, Reza shared that Iranians are “waiting for it to happen, for the blow to come.”
“There is a small glimmer of hope in my head that maybe it could even save us from this regime,” he stated in regard to the possibility of foreign military intervention against the regime, adding that he is surrounded by mixed opinions regarding that prospect. “There are both supporters and opponents in my environment, but the vast majority support the war."
Reza stated that despite his hope that a war against the regime would eventually provide relief for the Iranian people, he still has fears regarding what may come along with the conflict.
"My biggest fear about the war is that the electricity and the internet will be cut off, that our connection with the world will disappear,” he said, adding that he is “afraid that in the name of America the Iranian regime will kill people, as it has done in the past.”
Reza claimed that the Iranian regime may harm civilians, bomb them, “and then blame the US for their propaganda needs. Almost everyone around me is having the same nightmare. They go to bed with anxiety."
"Many people support the US and Israel taking action and destroying the regime," he said. “I have hope that Iran will be free, and that in the near future we will be able to live in peace and friendship."
Hopes of freedom, peace
Alireza Mashhad additionally described the state of anxiety and fear that he and the people around him are experiencing.
Mashhad told N12 that when he goes to sleep at night, he is “constantly afraid that the regime's forces will break down the door, come in and arrest [him].”
Those surrounding Mashhad “all say they are waiting for the war to start, for the power of oppression to be ended,” adding that “Everyone is waiting for this big event."
He stated that the Iranian people are “counting a lot on the assistance of the Israeli army and Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
Netanyahu “promised that he will not leave us alone and that he will stand by us,” Mashhad stated, adding that Iranians “are afraid that he will not keep this promise."
Mashhad concluded with a plea to Netanyahu. "Don't leave us alone. Be our voice," he urged, "In the hope of peace and freedom for the Iranian people and the people of Israel."