“What should we do?” Looking for clarity in Tehran while Israeli jets fly on top

Fear and stress are obvious in my sister’s voice in Tehran, despite the cracking, a periodic connection of WhatsApp, which – miraculously – still works from time to time.

The clarity is what she wants from me, knowing that I am a journalist with the BBC in London.

“What will happen? What should we do?” she asks. US President Donald Trump said people in Tehran should evacuate. “Is it serious?”

As of Thursday night, Tehran fell under repeated bombing of Israeli planes, which seem to fly freely through the sky of the capital. They are welcomed by an anti-aircraft fire is mostly ineffective.

From her window on the upper floors of a tall building building, my sister can clearly see the action she doesn’t do a little to calm her nerves.

The Israeli military ordered people in its area – extending a few kilometers in all directions – to evacuate. But she chose to stay.

She told me that, as far as she knew, there were no military -type targets near her apartment block.

Still, she was concerned about the nearby trade unit – she, in her opinion, by the Revolutionary Guard – which could be a goal. She had no idea what the company really did.

Many people do not know who their neighbors are or whether the military goals are nearby, as much of the revolutionary security activities are held secretly and from hidden places.

Electricity and water are still available in many parts of the capital, but food supplies are low.

Many stores have closed and close their doors. Even bakeries close – some due to lack of flour, others probably because the owners have escaped.

My sister refused to leave the city, unlike the hundreds of thousands – maybe millions – who already have, most of all because he has nowhere to go.

Despite the paths filled with jam and shortage of gasoline, many residents have fled in recent days.

The streets of Tehran, once a chock-a-lock with traffic, are now ominously quiet.

Those who remain almost dare, fearing attacks.

Recent reports indicate that the long tails of the gas stations have begun to facilitate and the roads outside the capital are less overworked.

Residents living near the country’s nuclear facilities face the additional fear of the spread of radioactive pollution, as these sites have been focused repeatedly by Israeli strikes in recent days.

The global nuclear guard has so far said that the levels of radioactivity beyond two sites that have been attacked and damaged on Friday have been unchanged.

People ask where it will bring all this and how long it will last.

Many now rely on Persian television channels based abroad for news.

The BBC Persian television service and its website have become key sources. Iran’s web traffic has doubled almost overnight, although the Internet has been painfully slow most of the time.

Trump called for Iran’s broadcast, but Iran’s supreme leader Ali Hamenei has just said that Iran will not surrender.

Few Iranians sympathize with the regime, but many fear that chaos and iniquity could follow if it is significantly destabilized.