In the hours before a cease-fire between Israel and Iran went into effect Tuesday morning, Tehran was pounded by the most intense and sustained airstrikes since the war started on June 13, residents said.
Fifteen residents, speaking by phone and in texts and audio messages, said large flames illuminated the night sky over the city and there were massive billows of smoke. Close to sunrise, the attacks came to an end, according to four residents in different parts of the city.
President Trump announced on Monday evening — around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday in Tehran — that Iran and Israel had agreed to a cease-fire. Iran’s state television later announced a cease-fire early morning local time on Tuesday.
By then, Tehran residents had endured one more night of heavy attacks and terror.
Mariam, a 54-year-old art gallery owner, said in a tearful voice message that she and her teenage son were fleeing their home to her parents’ apartment because the airstrikes around them were too intense. Earlier on Monday, Israel’s military had urged people to evacuate their district, a densely populated residential and commercial area in central Tehran.
“I pray that when I return tomorrow I still have a house, they are flattening the city tonight,” Mariam said in the message. Like all the residents contacted for this article, she only provided her first name because of fear of retribution from the authorities.
Mostafa Shams, a journalist in Tehran, said the explosions around his house were loud and constant. He said he could see two jets flying over the area where he lives. As he spoke on Clubhouse, an audio-based social media platform, the audience of thousands could hear the boom and thuds of explosions.
Amir, a 48-year-old resident of Tehran’s Jordan neighborhood, shared a video that showed loud explosions and huge flashes of orange lighting up the night sky.
“No night has been like this, the sounds are huge, we can see fire and smoke from our window in multiple locations, We don’t know if we will be alive tomorrow morning,” said Alireza, a 27-year-old graduate student in Tehran, said in a phone message. He said he did not have electricity.
Residents of several other districts in Tehran also said that they did not have power. “It’s the most terrifying night we have experienced, we are sitting in darkness and hearing things blowing up,” said Roya, 60, who said she was huddling with her husband and daughter in the stairwell of her apartment building.
Ramin, who lives in Chitgar, a western suburb of Tehran, said many people in his neighborhood had come outside into the streets because they were afraid they might not survive the strikes if they stayed indoors.
“It feels like they are using much bigger bombs tonight,” he said at around 3 a.m. local time, describing his neighborhood as “shaking badly.” Reached by phone at around 6 a.m. after the cease-fire announcement on state television, Ramin said, “Is it really over? Thank God.”
Farnaz Fassihi is the United Nations bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of the organization. She also covers Iran and has written about conflict in the Middle East for 15 years.
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