As the Israel-Iran conflict escalates, Iranian civilians describe a sense of shock and long, fearful nights. Mehran Haghirian, a regional expert who is part of the Iranian diaspora, describes the reality on the ground to CNN’s Becky Anderson.

Tehran

The escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran has led to widespread fear and disruption among Iranian civilians. Many families, including those of the Iranian diaspora, are struggling to evacuate affected areas due to blocked roads, shortages, and ongoing bombardments. 

According to Mehran Haghirian, a regional expert, the uncertainty surrounding the conflict's trajectory and the possibility of further international involvement have left both residents and those abroad deeply concerned. While some Iranians express support for political change, there is broad opposition to violence against civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Iranian citizens flee as conflict intensifies

My next guest is part of the Iranian diaspora. His parents have just managed to get out of Tehran. He writes, the continued Israeli attacks across Iran, including in the north, anticipation of reactions to Iranian retaliations, high possibility of US military action and the unclear trajectory of this war have terrorized the entire nation and its diaspora. This cannot turn into a forever war. Six nights are six nights too many. On day seven, Mehran Hageerian is the Director of Regional Initiatives at the Boston Bazaar Foundation, a think tank that focuses on economic development in West Asia. And he joins us now live from Paris. And I do understand that your parents safely made it out of Tehran, which is great news. After your dad spent more than 38 hours, as I understand it, traveling there to get to your mom so that they could leave together. What was their route out, just out of interest? And what are you hearing from relatives and friends on the ground right now? Hi, Vicky. Thanks for having me. The route was quite difficult because as you mentioned, my father had to come from an island in the Persian Gulf and there was no flights to reach Tehran. So he had to take a boat and then a train from Mandar Abbas. And he was going there while the evacuation orders were in place for Tehran. But they did try to leave two days ago, but the roads were blocked because of the heavy traffic. And obviously with a few shortages, they were actually told to return back and they did so. But they left again yesterday morning and they managed to reach the north of Iran. That's good news. What else are you hearing on the ground from friends and family? Unfortunately, many people, particularly also from my family, are also still in Tehran and they are terrified because the bombardments are continuing and it's not just in Tehran, it's elsewhere as well. And not knowing where this is really going has really terrified everyone. As you mentioned, there are issues with financial difficulties in trying to figure out where to go, how to go. And aside from the rationing of the fuel, there are others who are in prison, others who are in hospitals and they cannot leave. Well, we are hearing these calls from Israel's defense minister to eliminate the Ayatollah, the supreme leader, after Donald Trump said they could kill him but they haven't yet. I just wonder how that is being received by those that you know and other Iranians on the ground and in the diaspora. I would say the majority of Iranians that I'm seeing online and speaking to are somewhat supportive of the crumbling of the regime. That's, I don't think, a question. I don't think anyone is supportive of the killing of civilians and attacking civilian infrastructure. And that's an issue that many are dealing with at the moment. But considering the tweet by Donald Trump with regards to what he said about the supreme leader and the unconditional surrender that he has basically put as an ultimatum, this really, I think, put an end to the Islamic Republic as we knew it. I would explain it in this way. For 36 years, from the day the Iran-Iraq war ended, Iranians were really taught to believe that this regime is invincible, that we will never see again missiles raining down on Tehran or other cities of Iran, for that matter. And this in addition to the fact that they did receive an ultimatum from the US, their arch enemy, and practically there's not much that they can do about it anymore. I don't think the Islamic Republic as the regime as it was can continue anymore.

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