As Israeli airstrikes hit Iranian cities, and Iranian forces fired back, Meisam, 41, an Iranian poet and writer, decided it was time to leave Tehran.
On Sunday night, he joined the crowds of people fleeing the Iranian capital and headed for his hometown in East Azerbaijan Province. Meisam, who asked to be identified only by his first name because of the sensitivity of the situation, said he drove through areas where smoke from explosions hung in the air. So many people were driving out of Tehran, he said, that even at 2 a.m. he had to wait in a long line at the gas station to fill up his tank.
“Everything’s uncertain,” he said.
Chaos and fear have gripped Iran in the days since Israel launched its surprise attack on Friday and Iran began launching strikes on Israeli cities in response. Israel’s attacks have killed more than 200 people in Iran, according to the country’s health ministry, and injured more than 1,400. In Israel, at least 24 people have been killed in retaliatory barrages by Iran, with roughly 600 injured.
The sense of foreboding escalated on Monday after the Israeli military issued an evacuation order on social media for a large part of northeastern Tehran, saying it planned to target “military infrastructure” in the area within hours. With internet connectivity disrupted, many people without access to social media may have missed the warning.
Gas stations are closing because there is no fuel, those that are open have imposed a limit of 10 liters per car and internet and phone service is severely disrupted, according to six residents of the area.
In text and voice messages, several residents of Tehran said that they and their neighbors were scrambling to leave, grabbing essentials and getting on the roads. But for some, the destination was unclear.
“Where should I go? Where can I go? Where can half a million people go in a moment’s notice?” said Danial Amin, a resident of Tehran’s Zafar neighborhood. “The highways are completely blocked. We are trapped.”
Shadi, 42, who lives in Dibaji, a neighborhood in the evacuation area, had already left with her parents and was staying at her brother’s house in another part of the city. Fearing that Israeli strikes would target her brother’s neighborhood next, she hoped that her family could leave Tehran, but she said she was worried about being stuck on the roads.
“All the roads are congested, and we can’t get through,” she said. “The long lines at gas stations make refueling nearly impossible.”
Footage posted on social media and verified by The New York Times on Monday showed long lines of traffic on a highway in northeastern Tehran that leads out of the city. Residents said some gas stations were closing because there is no fuel, and those that were open said they could sell at most 10 liters, or about 2.6 gallons, per customer.
Mohsen, 42, an engineer, left Tehran for Semnan Province to the east on Sunday afternoon with his family, including their dog. He said they brought only what they could fit in their car: some clothes and other belongings, food and bottled water.
The roads were so clogged that a drive that normally takes an hour stretched to four and a half, he said. The journey was made even longer by security personnel who were inspecting vans and trucks at checkpoints set up at the entrances and exits to cities.
Even for those who escape Tehran, conditions were far from stable. Meisam, the poet and writer, said that relatives of his had seen a missile strike while driving on a different highway.
It was not clear that things in his hometown would be any better, he said, since many displaced people had flooded in, overwhelming the supermarkets there.
“If this continues,” Meisam said, “shortages seem inevitable.”
Monika Cvorak and Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.
Farnaz Fassihi is the United Nations bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of the organization, and also covers Iran and the shadow war between Iran and Israel. She is based in New York.
Vivian Yee is a Times reporter covering North Africa and the broader Middle East. She is based in Cairo.
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