What the war feels like in Iran and Israel

0:00Today on State of the World, what the war feels like in Iran and Israel.

0:09You'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. It's Monday, March 2nd. I'm Greg Dixon. The U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran continue. Meanwhile, Iran is retaliating, firing missiles at Israel, but also U.S. allies in the Gulf, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and even at air bases in Cyprus, threatening to expand the conflict. And the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon entered the fight, launching its first attacks on Israel in more than a year. In a few minutes, we'll hear voices from people experiencing this war on the ground in Iran and in Israel.

0:49First, for the latest developments throughout the Middle East, we turn to NPR's Jaina Raff. She's covering it all from Jordan, and she spoke to Scott Detrow. So much has happened in the past 24 hours. What are the most important developments? Well, these attacks have both intensified and the targets have widened. And in a sign of the U.S. juggling military operations by allies that are not used to direct combat, Kuwait mistakenly shot down three U.S. fighter jets. No one was killed, but the Pentagon announced that six service members had died as a result of an Iranian attack Saturday. And President Trump has warned of more casualties.

1:31General Dan Cain, who's chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the U.S. had struck more than 1 ,000 Iranian targets in the first 24 hours of the war. Now, he and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke at a press conference. Here's how Hegseth described the conflict area. This is a big battle space with a lot of capabilities. That's part of the reason why it's such a threat to us. Iran's Red Crescent, which is the sister society, the Red Cross, said more than 555 Iranians had been killed. And that's including more than 175 schoolgirls in airstrikes on their school, according to Iranian authorities.

2:14Some Iran-backed militias in Iraq also joined the fight. They launched airstrikes at U.S. forces in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. And Scott, that's just three days into a war that Trump says could take four to five weeks. And Lebanon, what's going on there? Well, that's a country that emerged from war with Israel less than two years ago, and it looks like war again, but with an even potentially more dangerous twist this time. The militant group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, fired into Israel for the first time in over a year in retaliation for the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.

2:52Lebanese officials said Israeli counterattacks killed at least 52 people and wounded 149 others. So here's the thing. The Lebanese government agreed with the U.S. that Hezbollah would disarm. And now it's saying it will arrest the Hezbollah members responsible for the rocket attack on Israel. So that raises the specter of Lebanese fighting Lebanese. And that's in a country which has suffered years of civil war. Meanwhile, Scott, Iranian missile strikes on Israel have killed 11 people and forced hundreds of thousands into shelters. How are the Lebanese affected by all of this? Well, there are tens of thousands of displaced here.

3:32The Lebanese government closed schools, turning them into shelters. Others evacuated with residents evacuating Beirut's southern suburbs as well as South Lebanon. And Peres Jawaad Rizkallah spoke with one man who said he left before dawn as soon as he heard the Israeli airstrikes hitting Dahya, the Beirut suburb where Hezbollah has a large presence.

3:59He said it's the second time he and his family had been displaced. The last time was two years ago when the shelters were full and they slept in the streets. And in the time we got left, what should we think about the other repercussions that this has had? Well, definitely higher oil prices. Iran has closed a key waterway to oil exports. Iran also attacked a major Saudi oil refinery. There are hundreds of thousands of airline passengers stranded, some governments considering evacuations of their citizens. And it's tarnished the image of the Gulf, which formerly had the image of an ultra-safe haven.

4:34So, Scott, it's upended a lot of things in this region. NPR correspondent Jayna Raff in Amman, Jordan, thank you so much. Thank you, Scott. We're going to hear now from people experiencing this war on the ground. First, in Iran. There, airstrikes began at the start of the work week. And for some, they brought a mix of emotions. NPR's Arzu Rizvani has been exchanging messages with Iranians. She brings us their voices. And a quick note, everyone you're going to hear asks not to be identified, fearing government retribution. A 30-something-year-old engineer was settling into work Saturday morning when he heard the first boom.

5:13We even saw one of the explosions from our office window around downtown Tehran. He scrambled to get home. U.S. and Israeli airstrikes pounded Tehran the rest of the day and well into the night. We were going to sleep and suddenly we heard cheers from our neighbors. and to be honest with you, the moment I heard the cheers, I knew what had happened. Israel had killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Among those overcome with joy was a 22-year-old university student. She requested we distort her voice. Unsure how this war will go, she's still fearful of government reprisals.

5:56They killed him. They finally killed him, she says through tears, then switches to English. I'm excited. Oh my God, I'm shaking. As news of Khamenei's killing spread, people raced to rooftops and balconies, their celebrations spreading across the country and social media.

6:18But by Sunday morning, a different crowd also emerged. Videos posted on state-run media showed large crowds gathering in public squares across the country, mourning their fallen leader.

6:33For others, like Sam, a university student, the feelings are more complicated.

6:43On the one hand, I'm really happy. A dictator, a criminal has been killed. On the other hand, I'm upset. We Iranians, we were robbed of an opportunity to take Hamanay to court and hold him accountable. On top of that, Sam's family, like many families in Iran, is politically divided. His parents support the government and are mourning the death of the supreme leader. From tears to cheers, Sam is troubled by the extreme emotions this war has elicited and worries it could be the first glimpse of divisive and bloody days to come. Arzi Razvani, NPR News. Almost immediately after the war began, Iran started launching missiles at Israeli cities.

7:24Those barrages are ongoing. For Israelis, the urgent rush to shelters is now a familiar feeling, ever since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2024. NPR's Daniel Estrin takes us to Tel Aviv for a glimpse of what it's like to be under Iranian missile fire. We're in the middle of Tel Aviv. We've just gotten alerts on our phones that a missile is expected to land in Israel. And there are the sirens. We're going to go down into the public shelter. Let's go. We're going just a couple of floors underground. You can see the reinforced concrete. This is a large public shelter, multiple rooms. A lot of people here with their dogs, their cats, reading books, eating their morning cereal.

8:12We decided to sleep in the shelter this night. Hila Shapira didn't want to be running in and out of the shelter when sirens go off. And to do it in the middle of the night while I'm eight months pregnant is just too much. She and her partner, Ori Iscovich, are thinking about the decision to launch a war with Iran. I'm hopeful about it, that it will bring a better future for them, and maybe it will be the start of a long desired change for the people of Iran, that will get some freedom. And if what it takes is that we sit here a little bit, it's totally fine. If this war is going to help Iran, then I can survive it.

8:52but I don't know. We're really tired. Tired is a word you hear a lot down in Israel's shelters. Neta Dafna is a therapist. Tired of wars keeping happening and feeling out of control because it's not our decision to go to war or to end war. And that war has been deadly in Israel. A missile landed on a public shelter Sunday in a city outside Jerusalem. Nine people were killed. Another missile attack in Tel Aviv killed a caregiver from the Philippines. We visited the scene. The blast radius is enormous. The missile fell in the center of a street. A building has been gutted. The outer wall has been blown off.

9:37You can see through into the apartments that have been destroyed. Shai Shor lives nearby. I want the Iranians to be free. But he's concerned Israel's killing of Supreme Leader Khamenei might not achieve that. We killed their leader, but the leadership in Iran is not completely destroyed. And within a few months, they're just going to come back. Next year is going to be the same thing, same story, same kind of war.

10:09Saturday's missile attack shattered windows blocks away. We follow a trail of debris into a ground floor apartment. In my kids' room, all the ceiling crashed. Asaf Peretz is a documentary filmmaker. Like in his work, he's taking the long view. Maybe in a few months' time, we will be able to look backwards and understand what really happened. Yeah, Khamenei is dead, so it's big, right? But now I'm inside my debris here, inside my house, and this is where my focus is. It's a game that we are not truly understanding. In a few months, he says he'll ask himself, is it over? Has Israel eliminated all the threats against it?

10:50And have more than two years of constant war been worth it? Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv.

11:07That's the State of the World from NPR. For more developments on this evolving story, visit npr.org. Thanks for listening.