'Even under missiles we carry on living' - how young Iranians are coping with war

Snow fell in parts of Tehran on Tuesday night, blanketing the Iranian capital with a layer of white after air strikes on oil depots caused days of dark skies and black rain.

“- Published Snow fell in parts of Tehran on Tuesday night, blanketing the Iranian capital with a layer of white after air strikes on oil depots caused days of dark skies and black rain”

BBC

But life goes on, even as the war drags on.

BBC

Many young people described sheltering at home and finding small ways to cope.

Sahar, a woman in her 20s whose name has been changed for safety reasons, told BBC Persian she was spending most days sheltering at home in Tehran, cooking, reading, and playing a life simulation video game and said, "I think my creativity has increased during the war. I'm constantly stressed and end up building prettier homes in the game."

BBC

She found out on Tuesday that a woman she had gone to school with had been killed and said, "Her body hasn't been found. I felt horrible after hearing it."

Another man in his 30s, Peyman, said: "Even under missiles, we carry on living. We have no choice but to live," and described empty metros and quiet streets.

A different man in his 30s said his sleep schedule now depends on the bombings: he goes to sleep around six or seven in the morning and wakes up at 2pm.

The run-up to Nowruz is disrupted: fewer than 10 days remain until Nowruz, the Persian New Year festival, and markets and streets were not the usual crowded scenes.

“- Published Snow fell in parts of Tehran on Tuesday night, blanketing the Iranian capital with a layer of white after air strikes on oil depots caused days of dark skies and black rain”

BBC

Tehran and its surrounding province have a population of 14 million, but some residents have left to seek safety elsewhere since the US and Israel began attacking Iran on 28 February, with some heading north towards the Caspian Sea.

Mina, a woman in her 20s, said her family insisted they go to Rasht to stay with her grandmother, recalled "The night they hit the [oil] depots, our flat was shaking all the way to the front door. All the windows lit up as if it were morning," and described travelling to Rasht in a car covered with patchy stains from the polluted rain while her best friend stayed in Tehran.

Iran has imposed an internet outage since the start of the war, but tech-savvy residents have been using Starlink as a vital communications lifeline despite legal risks.

Using Starlink in Iran carries a punishment of up to two years in prison, and authorities have reportedly been searching for the dishes to stop people from connecting.

BBC

Monitoring organisation NetBlocks said the internet blackout had entered its 12th day, with connectivity still at just 1% of ordinary levels after 264 hours.

Mehran, in his 20s and living in Tehran, said he had been sharing his Starlink connection with at least 25 other people and had hidden the device "somewhere remote" to prevent the authorities from "finding or jamming" it.

He said he had allowed loved ones to connect to the service for free, though internet access is being sold on the Telegram messaging app for around $6 (£4.50) for1GB of data - a high price in a country where the average monthly salary is estimated to be between $200 and $300.

Shima, a woman in her 20s in Tehran who uses a Starlink connection, said: "You have to buy it from someone you trust, otherwise there's a chance they will cut off your internet after you've paid a hefty sum," and added that her "ridiculously expensive Starlink VPN" takes a long time to connect but at least lets her tell loved ones abroad "that I haven't burnt to a crisp and I'm still alive."