Iranians speak of their fears and hopes as the conflict with Israel intensifies
Jun 18, 2025
Tehran [Iran], June 18: Traffic was gridlocked for hundreds of kilometres heading out of Tehran before Israel and Donald Trump told people to leave Iran's capital.
People were desperate and scared.
"It's complete chaos. There's no safe place left in Iran right now," Tehran local Pari said.
"We first tried heading north, but the roads were completely jammed. People were out of their cars, drinking tea, smoking. It was just gridlock - about 180 to 200 kilometres of traffic stuck across four lanes."
Many Iranians have tried to move to the country's north for safety, but Pari was not sure if that would work.
"The bread that costs 500 tomans ($0.018) here, it's 15,000 tomans ($0.55) over there and that was on the first day. Just imagine what it's like now . there'd be nothing left to buy, and there's no room left at all to stay," she said.
The traffic forced Pari to return home to Tehran on Monday night, but she vowed to try again on Tuesday despite the internet being down and a limit of 20 litres of petrol being imposed per customer.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
