“Armed Officers Are Everywhere”

In these few days since the war began, our daily life is oddly normal and dull. We stay at home during the day. We have no internet, and even satellite channels are jammed with interference. Access to secure internet was zero until today, and only with difficulty did a VPN finally connect. We don’t use domestic apps either, but we stay in touch through text messages and phone calls. We hardly see each other at all.

All shopping malls are closed, but small shops and retailers remain open. People are rarely on the streets except out of necessity, let alone shopping. Almost no stores are making sales except supermarkets. For now everything is available in supermarkets, though prices had already been rising for some time and keep increasing daily. I haven’t gone shopping for five days, so I don’t know exactly how much more expensive things have become.

The city looks quiet but the air is very clean. It seems the troublemakers are busy with war and don’t have time to burn mazut [a low-quality heavy fuel oil] and pollute the air. Meanwhile, armed officers are everywhere in the streets. They patrol constantly on foot, on motorcycles, and in cars, sometimes in long convoys, making noise and shouting.

When the air raids start we just listen to the sounds. We don’t go to any shelter - there is nowhere to go. We haven’t taped our windows either. During attacks there are no red alert sirens, and no messages or instructions have been given to us. We are certain these wartime conditions and hardships will continue until the [Persian] New Year, but we endure.

People are much more prepared than during the 12-day war. Everyone had been expecting this mentally, physically and emotionally. This time far fewer people have left the city. They are less frightened by the sounds. They are less afraid of rumours such as possible famine. Overall people are simply less afraid.

Satellite channels are our only connection with the outside world. Sometimes we read domestic news just to laugh at their lies. We also know that each channel’s news reflects its own viewpoint - filtered and selected - and that none of them can be trusted completely or with certainty.

Some people occasionally do spring cleaning. In these days when everything is closed and we cannot go outside, cleaning the house becomes a way to stay occupied and distract ourselves from the news. The weather, in fact, is very pleasant and spring-like. Sometimes I tell myself that usually we would stop working a week before the New Year [which starts on March 20 this year] - and this time we have simply stopped three weeks earlier. It’s fine. We will endure until it finally ends.

Economically, however, the situation is very different. Shops are missing their usual pre-holiday business. Many people have not received the payments they expected at the end of the year, nor collected debts owed to them. So the new year will probably not begin in good financial conditions for many people. Despite all this, many of us remain hopeful. Even in this situation, we still hope for a bright and free future for Iran.

The writer is a woman in her 30s living in Tehran.

This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared in Aasoo.