How one month of war in Iran is felt in countries around the region

0:00This message comes from Carvana, who makes buying and financing your next car easy. Thousands of vehicles, terms up front, and 100 % online. Even get it delivered to your door. Buy your car the easy way. with Carvana. Delivery fee may apply. Today on State of the World, how one month of war in Iran is felt in countries around the region. You're listening to State of the World from NPR. We bring you the day's most vital international stories up close where they're happening. I'm Greg Dixon. It's been a month since the U.S. and Israel began the war in Iran. President Trump pointed to what he said has been progress in talks when he extended his deadline for Iran to open up the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping channel.

0:47He has threatened to destroy Iran's energy facilities if ships aren't allowed to pass. Meanwhile, attacks continue in Iran, Israel, Gulf states, and Lebanon. Israel's defense minister vowed to intensify strikes against Iran, while Iran's ambassador to the UN accused the U.S. and Israel of deliberately targeting civilians. In today's episode, we look at this month of war by hearing from the people experiencing it. We're going to meet weary Iranians, fearful Israelis, shaken residents of what was a safe haven in the Gulf, and Lebanese citizens enduring massive displacement. Four NPR correspondents reporting throughout the region are bringing you these stories, and we start with Emily Fang at Turkey's border with Iran.

1:34I'm waiting for a train to arrive here in Turkey. It departed from Tehran more than 24 hours ago. A group of four Iranian women get off. They're giddy from the long journey and relieved to be in Turkey. They're university students and like many Iranians, all they can talk about is the war. They didn't want to give us their names because speaking to a foreign journalist has been criminalized in Iran and they will be going back. One of them says the bombings have mostly hit military targets, but not always.

2:12I was eating lunch one afternoon when bombing began, she says. The windows shattered. Everyone ran. Twelve strikes hit near her home that day, she says, killing 22 civilians. The war should never have started, she says, but now that it has, the U.S. and Israel should finish it, meaning toppling Iran's regime. We have lost all that we could lose already, she says. Yet she fears Iran could be reduced to being a colony of the U.S. Her friend interjects.

2:52Do you really think we have not already been a colony occupied by the Islamic Republic, she asks? She remembers all her friends killed by the regime during the anti-government protests this past January.

3:08The regime, she says, pretends as if none of these deaths happened. And she echoes her friend, it's better to end things once and for all. We're close friends, but we argue, the two women say. A window into the bitter arguments Iranians in and outside of the country are having about the war. Emily Fang, NPR News, Van, Turkey. And I'm Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv, where this air raid siren

3:35has gone off more than 100 times in the past month, multiple times a day and in the middle of the night. window panes shattered into the streets a few days ago when an iranian missile hit an upscale residential area in this city on the mediterranean coast

3:57there's a crater in the middle of the road where the missile fell the facade of an apartment building next to it has been badly damaged you can see right into the damaged homes Window panes of other buildings have been shattered. Cars have been crushed. Israeli police estimate the Iranian missile contained a warhead with about 220 pounds of explosives. It's literally a Russian roulette. I think quite worse. We can call it Iranian roulette. Michal Morgenbesser says she lives with the fear of not knowing if you're next to be struck. She lives a few blocks away from where the missile fell. First of all, it can fall anywhere.

4:34And I think that worse than that, we don't know how long it's going to take until, I mean, we're what, a month into this? We don't even have a clue when it will end. It's not normal. It's not a way to live. The new normal has not cost any political support to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A new poll shows he has not lost supporters since he and President Trump launched the war. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. And I'm Aya Batraoui in Dubai. The United Arab Emirates has been targeted with more than 2 ,000 Iranian drones and missiles during the war. That's the most in the Gulf, and even more than Israel.

5:13The UAE's air defenses, which include U.S. and Israeli-made systems, have intercepted the vast majority of these attacks. But Dubai's reputation as a safe haven has taken a beating. Dubai's popular marina promenade would normally be teeming with tourists and expats who live here. But it's quiet and unusually calm. It's where I meet George Ait, a Lebanese who says he's lived in Dubai for 20 years and is raising his kids here. He's got no plans to leave. I feel very protected given that the leadership here have the right vision. We live in a place which is very tolerant for every other religion, every other person.

5:50And I think Dubai will only become stronger. But authorities in the UAE have actually been cracking down on people posting videos about the war in private chat channels and online. They say posts that are inaccurate create a security risk. Police in Abu Dhabi say they've arrested more than 100 people for sharing videos. This is the message Dubai wants the world to hear.

6:21A safe haven, they say, for everyone. Aya Batraoui, NPR News, Dubai. And I'm Lauren Freyer in the Sports City Stadium in southern Beirut. I'm climbing down the bleachers. And what should be the refreshment area underneath the stands here are rows and rows of thousands of tents.

6:49This is just a fraction of the more than 1.2 million people displaced by Israeli attacks across this country.

6:59Airstrikes hit left and right of our house, killing the family next door, says Ismail Farah, who says the street was burning as he fled with his family.

7:14It's humiliating to live in a tent, his wife Zainab Saad says. War is humiliation, her husband interjects. were from a proud ancient Mediterranean city, Tyre, we stood up to Alexander the Great, he says. Israel says Iran-backed Hezbollah militants are there now. To oust them, Israeli officials say they'll take part of this country south. And as I leave this family, they're talking about geopolitics, tracking the advancing Israeli troops on their phones. The charity workers here are installing more toilets, It's trying to get hot showers. As people hunker down, they're not sure when they'll be able to go home.

7:59Lauren Fryer, NPR News in Sports City Stadium in southern Beirut. And we also heard from Eya Betraoui in Dubai, Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv, and Emily Fang in Turkey.

8:15And that's the State of the World from NPR. Thanks for listening. Water is abundant. We take showers, fill our glasses, and flush our toilets with it. But what if one morning you try to turn on the tap and nothing comes out? That is a reality that many people already face. For much of the world, normal is gone. What happens when our most vital resource runs out? Find out on Shortwave, listen in the NPR app, or wherever you get your podcasts.