Iranian social media users are sharing pictures and videos of their homes and of Iran in what one described as a “final glimpse” as many flee their homes. It comes as the U.S. has directly entered the war between Israel and the Islamic Republic.
The Context
The conflict between Israel and Iran has dramatically escalated in recent days. On Saturday evening, President Donald Trump announced military action on Iran and said that the U.S. had attacked sites in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, marking the first U.S. intervention in the conflict.
What To Know
On Monday, June 16, Trump issued a warning telling “everyone” in Tehran to “immediately evacuate” the city. This came after a warning from the Israel Defense Forces, which was shared in a post to their Persian language account on Sunday, June 15, which said that anyone near sites linked to Iran’s military should “immediately leave these areas and not return until further notice.”
Iran itself has a population of 92.4 million, and Tehran has an estimated population of 9.7 million, according to the World Population Review.
The account @ayparamobina on TikTok shared a post on the app which included a slideshow of images showing people’s homes in Iran.
The first image featured a home with bright colorful furniture, books and an open suitcase on the floor, and the following images showed the interiors of different people’s homes. The first image had the text overlay “ppl in Tehran are taking one last picture before evacuating their home,” and the post itself was captioned, “They are taking a picture in the hope that everything will be the same when they return. a picture to remember home by.”
The post has been viewed over 5 million times on TikTok alone, and it has also been reshared on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram.
Speaking to Newsweek via email, one account holder, Mobina, said “As an Iranian, I feel it is essential to clarify something that is often misunderstood from the outside. The people of Iran are now caught in a war that they never wanted.” Mobina told Newsweek, “I, and the vast majority of Iranians, do not support this regime.”
A 2023 poll by the Netherlands-based GAMAAN polling agency found that 15 percent of Iran’s population supported the regime.
Mobina told Newsweek that the sharing of images “Reflects something very deep about Iranian identity.”
“People in Iran have always tried to live beautifully, to find joy, and to hold on to their humanity. That desire to create warmth, beauty, and life inside the walls of our homes is part of our culture and who we are,” Mobina said.
The account @shervin_nila shared a clip of their home in Iran. It had the text overlay, “This may be the last video I’ve made from our home in Tehran,” and was captioned, “All we left behind to come to our hometown for all the plans we had may now be only a memory.” It has been viewed over 150,000 times as of reporting.
nurrraaaaa_ shared a compilation video on TikTok which featured clips of Iran. It had the text overlay, “Was that the final glimpse of my home?” and was captioned, “didn’t realize it might be the last time I’d walk those streets.”
The account hedziworldtour shared a similar video, which featured clips of Iran and her in the country. It had the text overlay, “The world ended when it happened to my country,” and was captioned, “They don’t know Iran like I do (I have deep empathy for people of every country that has been through something like this, but words can’t describe when it’s happening to your own country and loved ones).” It has been viewed a million times at the time of writing.
The sharing of these images has also prompted discourse online. The account Saax wrote on ayparamobina’s TikTok video “WHY ARE PEOPLE SURPRISED THAT THEY HAVE BEAUTIFUL HOMES THAT LOOK LIKE OURS?! WHAT DO YOU THINK TEHRAN IS???” in a comment liked more than 20,000 times.
Hedziworldtour shared a TikTok video addressing this, where she wrote, “Watching people comment about how surprised they are that Iranian homes look like they came out of pinterest bc your country has never been humanized a day in its life.” The video has been viewed over half a million times as of reporting.
Newsweek has reached out to nurrraaaaa_ and shervin_nila via TikTok, and to Hedziworldtour via email.
Israel initially struck Tehran and other cities in “Operation Rising Lion,” a campaign it said was designed to preempt a planned Iranian attack and to disrupt its nuclear capabilities, which Iran has said are for peaceful purposes.
Following the U.S.’s strike on Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, “The United States, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has committed a grave violation of the U.N. Charter, international law and the NPT [Non-proliferation Treaty] by attacking Iran’s peaceful nuclear installations.”
Following the strike, Trump gave an address to the nation, saying, “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace…Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal.”
What People Are Saying
Mobina told Newsweek via email: “For many Iranians, especially in cities like Tehran, Isfahan, or Shiraz, every detail of their home reflects who they are. The way they arrange their books, the carpets passed down from grandparents, the flowers on the balcony, or the artwork on the walls.
“Many have taken and shared those final images of their homes with the hope that they might not be destroyed. That one day, they could return. These last photos are acts of remembrance, hope, and quiet resistance.”
One social media user wrote in a comment on ayparamobina’s TikTok that was liked more than 65,000 times: “It’s wild seeing homes that look like they came off Pinterest board in a country that is portrayed so negatively, but the people who live there have to flee their country. It just shows how alike we all are, but how our realities are just so drastically different.”
What’s Next
The leadership of Iran under Supreme Leader Ali Ayatollah Khamenei will decide whether to retaliate against the U.S. strikes or enter negotiations. The reactions of global powers Russia and China, both of whom are close to Iran, will also be critical.
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