'Paralysed and constantly caught by surprise': Voices from Iran after US strikes

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"My days and nights are the same. I feel paralysed. I just stare at the ceiling all day and all night."

"I keep wondering what will happen next, and we are constantly caught by surprise."

Shahla - whose name we have changed for her protection - is among the Iranians who have contacted BBC Persian to express their fear and anger after the US bombed three of their country's key nuclear sites overnight.

US President Donald Trump said the Isfahan, Natanz and Fordo facilities were "obliterated" and told Iran's leaders that they now had a choice of "peace or tragedy".

But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US had crossed "a big red line" and warned that it would have "everlasting consequences".

The strikes happened just over a week after Israel launched a large-scale air campaign against Iran, saying it aimed to remove what it called the existential threats of the country's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Iran's health ministry says at least 430 people have been killed so far, although one human rights group has put the death toll at double that.

Iran has responded by launching missiles at Israeli cities, killing 24 people and injuring 1,270, according to Israeli authorities.

"I'm extremely angry and upset about what's happened. I don't think I've ever felt this level of sorrow and rage over anything in my life," Mehri - also not her real name - told BBC Persian in an audio message following the US strikes.

"But in a way, it also gives me a strange sense of clarity - it reminds me that I'm connected to something beyond myself."

"This war - Iran's war - is essentially a conflict between three individuals. Three leaders, from three countries, driven by their own ideologies," she added, apparently referring to Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"I get furious when I hear them mention names like Isfahan or suddenly declare: 'We've taken control of Iran's skies.' These are not just words to me - they're sacred."

Homayoun, a man from the north-western region of Maku, was defiant in the face of Trump's warning that Iran would face more attacks if it did not agree to peace.

"Yes, we're going through tough times - but we'll stand by our country to the very end. And if needed, we'll give our lives for our homeland, for our honour," he said. "We won't let America and its lackeys make any wrong moves in our country."

Trump warned Iran on Saturday that any retaliation against the US "will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight".

At a news conference in Turkey on Sunday, Araghchi declared that Iran reserved "all options to defend its security, interests and people". He also said the US bore "full responsibility for the consequences of its actions".

Before Israel launched its air campaign, Iran had threatened to attack US bases in the Middle East if it participated in any strikes on its nuclear programme.

Another Iranian man told BBC Persian that he hoped this was "the peak of the war's escalation - and from here, things will start to de-escalate".

"Iran is rational enough to know that any response targeting the US would be complete suicide," he said.

"My child will be born in a few days, and I hope their birth coincides with the birth of a new Iran - one that adopts a fresh approach toward both the international system and its domestic affairs."

"And I hope they grow up knowing that surveillance cameras and security forces should be focused on real threats, not on enforcing the hijab," he added, referring to Iran's strict laws requiring women to wear headscarves which led to mass anti-government protests and a deadly crackdown in 2022.

Farhad - not his real name - said: "I'm not happy about what happened, but the Islamic Republic's past approach was not bearable. I hope a good future awaits Iran."

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