The streets of Tehran are telling a narrative of chaos: suitcases dragged throughout pavements, a single mom holding her younger son with one hand whereas balancing a blanket and pillow within the different, heading right into a subway station to spend yet one more evening underground. With no shelters, alerts, or public evacuation plans, younger Iranians are turning to the one protected house left as Israel attacks Iran: the web, and chat apps like Discord and WhatsApp.
“We don’t know the place to go,” says Momo, a 24-year-old IT engineering scholar in Tehran.
“We by no means know if the constructing subsequent door homes the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] or the Ministry of Intelligence. I don’t know if my upstairs neighbour is an everyday particular person or a regime official. The ability close to me could be a part of a secret navy programme,” he stated, alluding to Israel’s assaults on residential buildings, ostensibly to focus on people related to Iran’s navy or with its nuclear programme.
Regardless of all of it, Momo has chosen to remain in Tehran – not only for his two-year-old rescue cat, however out of precept. “The place would I even go? My house is right here. My life is right here. We gained’t give in to a repressive regime or Israeli aggression. Many people are staying. We don’t understand how lengthy it will final, however I’d relatively my residence turn out to be my grave than stay in displacement.”
No shelter however the web
With standard protected havens out of attain and communication networks below heavy surveillance or blocked fully, Iran’s Era Z – these born between the mid-Nineties and mid-2010s – are carving out new refuges within the digital world. Boards have turn out to be lifelines, serving as makeshift shelters, remedy rooms, and organising hubs.
Momo has been a Discord consumer for seven years. “It’s the one place the place I can breathe,” Momo says. “I used Discord only for voice chats whereas gaming with pals. Now, it appears like residence. We’re typically in contact with folks there greater than our households. In the course of the bombings, we watched films and TV sequence collectively. Generally, we even go to sleep on-line.”
This era of Iranians got here of age within the shadow of sanctions, political unrest, and censorship. Many had been additionally key gamers within the 2022 anti-government protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was arrested for carrying “improper hijab” – a motion recognized globally by the slogan “Girl, Life, Freedom”. On-line platforms performed a pivotal function then, and so they proceed to function important instruments at this time.
In response to Iranian day by day Shargh, almost 14 million Iranians – round 15 p.c of the inhabitants – are Gen Z players and frequent Discord customers. Regardless of official restrictions, they continue to be digitally linked, utilizing VPNs and encrypted apps to remain in contact.
“When the assaults started, we had been in the midst of a recreation,” Samin, a 23-year-old from northern Iran, says. “It was surreal – not realizing if the explosions had been coming from inside the sport or actual life. These video games are filled with gunfire and bombs, creating this bitter irony: I couldn’t inform if I used to be enjoying Name of Responsibility or dwelling it. Sadly, the sounds weren’t from the sport – they had been actual bombings.”
Discord was blocked in Iran in April 2024, with some suspecting that the federal government shut it down in recognition of its use as a platform to organise protests, though Iran’s judiciary formally cited issues over indecent content material. However the ban hasn’t stopped Gen Z from discovering their method again to the app.
“Generally we go to nice lengths simply to discover a working VPN, simply to log into Discord and be a part of our channels. If somebody doesn’t come on-line, we name them. If their voice cuts out mid-call, our hearts race – we fear they could have been killed in a bombing,” Samin says. “We’re on-line greater than ever, continuously checking in on one another. We’ve shared a lot – birthdays, the sound of missiles overhead, the lack of family members. We share our fears and day by day struggles in that house. It’s a painful environment, however there’s hope, solidarity, and care, too.”
Being pregnant, panic, and perseverance
In the meantime, a WhatsApp group created initially for prenatal yoga in Tehran has turn out to be an surprising hub of resilience. Its members – pregnant ladies who had been unable to flee the capital – now share respiration methods, emergency suggestions, and voice messages throughout blackout durations.
Ameneh and her buddy Zohreh, PhD holders and United States inexperienced card recipients, had been ready for his or her dad and mom’ visas to be accredited by the US for months. Whereas each had been anticipating infants, they made totally different selections: Zohreh returned to Iran to have her household’s assist for childbirth, whereas Ameneh stayed in San Francisco to provide beginning alone – however safely – within the US.
Now, 4 days into Israel’s bombardment of Iran, each ladies are devastated – however nonetheless linked through a gaggle chat on the encrypted messaging app referred to as “Yoga for Being pregnant”.
“We give one another recommendation on self-care and respiration to handle panic assaults and do yoga collectively on-line. We mild candles and ship voice notes when issues go quiet once more,” says Zohreh, who’s eight months pregnant in Tehran.
“The sound of an explosion woke me. A buddy guided me to concentrate on respiration and heartbeat to calm my contractions. One other time, when my child didn’t transfer for hours, they advised me to play music, do a therapeutic massage, and check out yoga once more.”
US President Donald Trump’s menace that Tehran be “evacuated” despatched waves of panic by way of Tehran. Zohreh and plenty of different pregnant ladies discovered themselves unable to depart the town as a consequence of their bodily situation and restricted entry to medical care. “We had deliberate to depart Tehran,” she says, “however after seeing the site visitors and the potential for going into labour early, I made a decision to remain so I’d have entry to a hospital.”
Because the bombs fall and uncertainty deepens, Iranians’ defiance lives in digital areas – quiet, steadfast, and deeply human. Even when the sky gives no warning and the regime gives no refuge, they’re nonetheless discovering one another and refusing to face the darkish alone.
Editor’s word: As a result of delicate nature of this story, names have been modified to guard the folks concerned.
This story was revealed in collaboration with Egab.
