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Associated Press reporters drove across Iran from the border with Turkey to the capital, Tehran, after Iran granted permission for an additional visiting team for a brief reporting trip, an assignment that required the team to be accompanied by a media assistant from a government-affiliated company. The trip, described as a window into “destruction, defiance and daily life,” began with signs of mourning and vengeance tied to the war’s start and continued through the long drive south with only intermittent reminders of the fighting. Despite the wider regional conflict that has roiled energy and global markets, AP reported that everyday movement kept going along the route to Tehran.
In the northwestern city of Zanjan, which AP said was about six hours from the border, the first major damage reported by the visiting team involved a religious facility, a husseiniyah. Iranian officials told AP that an airstrike hit the compound, killing two people and destroying a clinic and a library, including its golden dome and other older parts of the site. When asked about the strike, the Israeli military said it had targeted “a military headquarters,” adding that it tries to avoid harming civilian facilities, without elaborating further.
Somayeh Shojaei, a local resident who AP reported had attended religious and cultural events at the center, said, “It has hurt me a lot and distressed me a lot,” and she linked the attack to the war’s escalation. She added that “With these airstrikes, (the U.S. and Israel) are showing their malicious intent to the whole world.” AP reported the strike killed the library’s caretaker and a volunteer with the Iranian Red Crescent first responders, according to Jaafar Mohammadi, the provincial director of cultural and Islamic guidance.
Mohammadi told AP that the clinic served “poor people” with free treatment, while the library’s collection included more than 35,000 books, including antique manuscripts. He also said he did not know why the complex was targeted and described the broader political context, saying, “Iran wanted to negotiate for peace with (U.S. President Donald) Trump, but Trump responded with war,” and that “He started the war, but we will definitely be the victorious side.”
As the reporters continued toward Tehran, AP said the U.S. and Israel had carried out thousands of strikes across Iran and that Trump had threatened to bomb Iran “ back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.” AP reported that over the weekend, he reiterated a Monday deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for oil and gas, while Iran’s leaders rejected what they said were unreasonable peace proposals. Israel, AP reported, showed no sign of easing its strikes and called on Iranians to overthrow their leaders.
Even so, AP reported that daily life continued in many cities along the road, including normal traffic and open businesses, as people walked through streets. AP said a restaurant served Iranian food such as grilled lamb and rice, barley soup and saffron drinks as “Losing my religion” by R.E.M. played over loudspeakers, and it reported that many women were seen going about their day without wearing the mandatory head covering, with enforcement described as having eased in recent years. AP said its team passed through two checkpoints on the approach to Tehran without being stopped.
In Tehran, AP reported that the city was quiet after midnight following heavy airstrikes the previous night on mountains overlooking the capital. Tehran, AP said, has been on the front lines, with strikes that the U.S. and Israel say target military and internal security forces, while Iranian authorities reported that over 1,900 people had been killed and that it was unclear how many were soldiers or civilians. AP reported seeing destroyed government buildings and police stations and passing checkpoints operated by plainclothes Basij personnel and members of the Revolutionary Guard, adding that the team was stopped once and asked to show press cards before being waved onward.
The report also described the contours of everyday continuity inside the security environment, including subsidized fuel prices. AP said fuel remains heavily subsidized, with a gallon (4 liters) costing around 15 U.S. cents, while people are allowed to purchase only about 5 gallons (20 liters) at a time, and it reported no signs of gas lines. Back in Zanjan, AP reported retired soldier Mohamoud Maasoumi said the conflict with the United States—“the world’s arrogance”—goes back to a 1953 CIA-backed coup that remains in many Iranians’ memories, and he said he hoped Iran’s leaders would defend the country.
Masses of grief and public displays of anger sat alongside scenes of commerce, music, and street activity during the drive, according to AP’s reporting. In the account, the war’s physical damage was clear in at least one compound hit by an airstrike and in the destroyed structures AP saw in Tehran, but the route also highlighted how normal routines can persist even when fear and uncertainty are widespread.