When Shiraz calls

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1:23of places. Is this city going to be ruined? I don't know.

1:33Shiraz is so beautiful at night. It's so stunning. And as I was going through those streets, I was wondering, Cheikh Aba, what's going to happen to all this? Gita and Leila are sisters. Gita lives in London, Leila in the Iranian city of Shiraz. These aren't their real names. Despite the physical distance between them, they're very close and speak regularly. During the war in Iran and the subsequent ceasefire, they've been recording their conversations, which have been shared with the BBC. Because of the risks and because they talk freely, in order to protect their anonymity, the sisters' words are entirely spoken by actors.

2:16It looks like things have got a bit messy. Are you outside? Yeah, I'm outside. But don't worry, I'm fine. Okay, call me tonight with Mom. Okay, okay. And one more thing. When you said things are messy, what did you mean? Look, they're saying they've hit the gas facilities in Asaluyeh, the main gas supply. And also, they told Ahmad, who works for the gas company, that they have to go there to shut the gas off. Mina said electricity might go too. Oh, b**ch. She was saying today or tomorrow. And another thing, she said she couldn't find petrol either. Oh, God.

2:55You're listening to the documentary on the BBC World Service. I'm Caroline Hawley, a diplomatic correspondent at the BBC. And this is When Shiraz Calls.

3:16It's been a tumultuous year for Iranians. First, a nationwide uprising that was brutally crushed. Then, a war that Donald Trump thought would spell the end of Iran's theocratic regime. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. On 28 February, the US and Israel launched coordinated airstrikes across Iran. They targeted military and nuclear sites and key members of the Iranian leadership. Iran's 86-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the opening salvos of the war. His supporters mourned in public, but many Iranians celebrated.

4:03The country was still reeling from the regime's lethal crackdown on mass protests in January. Tens of thousands of people, protesters and some bystanders are reported to have been killed or injured. More than 3 ,000 others, both civilians and members of the security forces, have been killed during the US-Israeli bombardments.

4:27Because of a near-total internet blackout imposed by the Iranian authorities, they say for security reasons, we've heard relatively little from people in Iran over the past few weeks. International calls into the country have also been blocked. But Gita and Leila have managed to keep talking, and we've obtained their conversations. Gita's also been keeping a diary. Their recordings give us a snapshot of the lives of two young Iranian women living through a key moment in their country's history. Diary, London On the very first day, when they said Ali Khamenei had been killed, the death of a leader, especially at the beginning of a war, that wasn't something my mind had ever prepared for.

5:11I understood why people felt happy. This man was responsible for so much death, fear and destruction. But what disturbed me was that someone who had been so frightening and untouchable for decades, was suddenly gone. So easily, without being brought to court, without facing people, without answering anything. Iranians are stunned, bewildered. Many are excited. They hope the regime might indeed be toppled. The death of the supreme leader, the ultimate authority in Iran for decades, is followed by other assassinations, including of Iran's security chief, Ali Larajani, who is thought to have been responsible for the operation to crush January's uprising.

6:01Everyday life in Iran is turned upside down, sometimes in strange ways. Hello? How are you? You OK? Yeah, thanks. What's the news? I was waiting for your call. I knew you'd be going on a break. Yeah, I'm on my break now. By the way, can you check the weather for me? For tomorrow, the day after Friday, what it's like? Don't you have a weather app? No, we don't have any internet. We don't even have Google. It says 60 % chance of rain today. After 6 p.m., it's sunny. Are you going out on a date? No. I've just been lying under the duvet, and this rain makes it worse. It's torrential. I just need a bit of sunlight.

6:45I'm serious.

6:51As attacks continue, with Iran hitting back, firing missiles at targets around the Gulf, in London, Gita tries to hold on to some semblance of normality. It's March, Nouruz, the Persian New Year, the most important date in the Iranian calendar. Diary, London. I had plans to go to Finchley with a friend after she finished work and do some shopping for Nouruz. Over the past few years, I've always tried to go. It feels like going there helps me hold on to the feeling of New Year, even far from home. I was sitting on the bus, listening to a playlist I'd put together. Right there, I missed Mom. I wished I could see her, hug her.

7:38It's been five years since I last saw her. Her birthday's coming up too. My mother loves hyacinths. I bought a bunch. They mightn't last until New Year, but home will smell of hyacinths. The thought of mom will fill the space. My sister didn't call today.

8:00In Iran, Nouruz this year passes virtually unnoticed for many Iranians. Instead of holding big family gatherings, they're trapped in their homes, scared to go out.

8:13Hello? Hi. You okay? I keep missing your calls. Yeah, I'm OK. How are you? I called you twice. I know. Sorry, my phone was on silent. Can you hear that noise from the street?

8:32Pro-government supporters staging shows of strength become a common sight.

8:40This is what they do every night. Yeah, I saw a video. It's awful. For many Iranians, it's very intimidating. Whilst American and Israeli planes dominate the skies, the regime is determined to show it owns the streets, bringing out large groups of its loyalists. And new security checkpoints are appearing on street corners, with armoured vehicles and heavy weaponry. Adding to the sense of fear, soon the economy goes into freefall, prices are soaring alarmingly, and families are cutting back on what they eat. Leila, a doctor, sees the effects at work in the patients who come into hospital At this point in the war, she's working in an A &E department Gita, this morning this poor woman came in with a toothache I swear she looked really well dressed, way better dressed than me She said she had one of those special insurance plans But when I put in her details, it didn't come up Her insurance had been cut off Why?

9:42What had happened? Well, she said, I'm supposed to be covered until the end of the month. And I showed her the screen and said, look, it's been canceled. She had MS and she was young too. I wrote her a prescription but told her to take a moxiclove or a moxicillin. It's cheaper. You could see how upset she was. That's awful. Her medication has become unbelievably expensive. I have so many patients telling me we've run out of money. We haven't taken our meds for a month. People can't afford the essentials. But you know, today along the boulevard, every few steps I saw banners of Agar Mojtaba. Everywhere.

10:25It was honestly making me feel sick. Mojtaba Khamenei is the late Supreme Leader's son and just over a week after the start of the war, he'd been chosen by Iran's clerical establishment as his successor. He's a hardliner, close to Iran's powerful revolutionary guards. The embattled regime is closing ranks. I tried to call you when it was happening, but you didn't answer. Leila, they're saying Shiraz has been really badly hit. Yeah, the missiles were coming. I don't know if it was from jets or launched from another country. I wanted you to hear it. It was so close. You could hear the gap between the missile being launched and it hitting.

11:07And for the first time, I got scared. It was terrifying. Honestly, honestly, I'm so angry. Half my face has gone numb. I swear to God, don't let anything happen to you. The US military is bombing targets across the country. In an offensive, it's called Operation Epic Fury. Dozens of senior military commanders are killed. But the regime, far from losing its grip, tightens it. For Leila and Gita, any thoughts of a quick resolution evaporate? These people aren't going anywhere. They're not the kind who just fall. I honestly don't know what the Iranian government are planning to do, or what the US and Israel have in mind.

11:52They must have planned these scenarios in advance. It's ridiculous. And now their dream of going to war with the US and Israel has come true. Isn't that what they wanted? One thing about what Trump's doing, Even though it's making life hard for us, it's exposing these people for what they really are. Tonight at six, Iran launches attacks on an oil refinery in Israel as energy prices soar around the world. At the end of March, the impact of the war is being felt well outside Iran. Iran has put a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz. Gita watches as Iran dominates the news. Iran, but not Iranians.

12:33And a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. People around me suddenly knew about the Strait of Hormuz Even people who normally don't follow politics But this awareness wasn't about people It was about oil, economy, impact And that made something very clear to me That places like Iran become visible Mostly when they affect somewhere else It's something I'd felt before But in that moment, I felt it more strongly Then I remembered the time change in London tonight and I realised the only thing I cared about was this. Am I now closer to Iran in time? And I am. One hour closer. Somehow that matters. By now, the economic cost of the war is biting increasingly hard.

13:24Small businesses, especially ones that rely on the internet, are going under. People are using up their savings. Leila's struggling financially. Geeta, I think I'm going to have a really difficult month. If you can, could you maybe send me some money? It's the first time Leila has ever asked Geeta for money, but her salary hasn't been paid for weeks. I was actually wondering about that. I'll find a way. I just don't know how to get it to you. They've hit the bank as well. They hit the bank? Yeah. They've only paid my salary today.

14:07Her bank is apparently hit by a cyber attack as another conflict rages alongside the missiles and the bombs. Iran is fighting a propaganda war. Leila hears that schoolchildren have been told they should go out into the streets waving flags if they want to be given good grades. and there are stories of people being incentivised to attend pro-government rallies. When Leila calls, Geeta senses in her sister a heaviness, an exhaustion. Getting through it means digging deep.

14:46This is the documentary from the BBC World Service.

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16:04I'm Caroline Hawley and this is When Shiraz Calls. This morning when my sister called we remembered something we'd always done as a family Since we were young, whenever we were together we would start imagining things projects we could start, businesses we could build We created an imaginary island and then we'd assign roles to everyone in the family laughing about who'd be good at what, who'd be terrible at it We did it again this morning The island An empty place, somewhere far, where it's just us. No war, no restrictions. Again we began assigning roles. Who'd handle electricity? Who would teach?

16:50Who'd take care of health? For a few moments, it felt possible to stand somewhere that isn't collapsing. It gave us somewhere else to stand. And we laughed. Like we always do. Imagining a real future in Iran is now difficult for many Iranians. Gita hears stories of people leaving. Airports are closed, but Gita hatches a plan. Hello? You OK? Were you asleep? No, I'm at work. I wanted to call you. I just keep thinking, what's going to happen to us? My love, it's not clear. I'm telling you, come to the Razi border. Where's the Razi border? Razi border, Turkey. Leave me alone, eh? I'll come from that side and pick you up.

17:41And then how far can you take me, eh? I'll get a place in Istanbul, honestly. What can I even say? I should go, Gita. OK. Bye. Shortly after, Gita wrote, it was the kind of plan you arrive at when there are no good options left. The hardest part of these days for me is this feeling of lack of control. The speed of events, the fragmented reports, a story heard from someone who heard it from someone else. News has neither shape nor certainty. This morning when my sister called, she handed the phone to mom. I could hear sorrow in her voice. They've started thinking about preserving meat and food with salt without a refrigerator.

18:28this image was more painful to me than any war report. The thought of someone sitting and working out, if the electricity goes, if the gas stops, if everything fails, how do we survive? And then my sister talked about the meningitis outbreak in England. She told me to be careful. How on earth can someone who's living with all that instability under the shadow of bombing still worry about you. By early April, Donald Trump, who'd suggested the war would last just a few weeks, is looking for a way to end it. He delivers an ultimatum on his Truth Social platform to try to get Iran to the negotiating table on his terms.

19:16President Trump has upped the ante dramatically by saying Iran's whole civilisation will die tonight. When I heard that phrase, a whole civilisation will die tonight, at first I didn't really take it seriously. Donald Trump says many things, things that don't always happen. But people kept talking about it. I heard it again and again. Another day, another extraordinary post. At this point, nobody knows whether he is going to go ahead or not. The world is now on a brink of a very dangerous escalation. It started to feel that something on a different scale could become real Something that extends beyond a single moment Of course Iran has a long history And so much beauty and memory in its cities Its architecture, its language and landscapes But for me, civilization is first and foremost its people Iran without its people is not Iran So when someone speaks so easily about the end of a civilization, I don't imagine only buildings falling.

20:26I imagine ordinary people. Not only its glorious past, but this fragile present. When someone on the other side of the world talks about our lives like this, deciding about life and death without ever asking us, it feels careless, almost unbearable.

20:52In the end, it doesn't happen. A temporary ceasefire is announced on the 8th of April, and a few days later, direct talks take place in Pakistan between the US and the Iranians, but yield no agreement. Iran, with its newfound economic weapon in the Strait of Hormuz, is in no mood to capitulate.

21:18Hello? How are you? Do you know, last night there were car horns and chants of Allah Akbar. They're saying we won. I don't know what they've done. I don't know, but they're using the Strait of Hormuz as leverage. Right. At work, Gita's finding the situation increasingly difficult. She says non-urgent surgeries are being postponed. to prepare for war casualties. Then most of those who come into the emergency room are suffering from some form of anxiety or panic attacks. Gita John, I was on shift yesterday. I went into the pharmacy. I needed to enter a few medication codes for someone. A woman came in and said she wanted a thermometer.

22:00They'd given her a list of things to get for her child. Right. She asked the price. They said 200 ,000 tomans. She said, look, can you give it to me and I'll bring the money later? They said no. She genuinely didn't have the money. Seriously? I'm still buying medicines. With your own money? Yeah, with my own money. You give them for free? Some of them, yeah. And a patient with chest pain. A chest pain patient should be admitted, monitored for at least six hours. have cardiac tests twice, serial ECGs, and then treatment. Minimum six hours. But here, they don't do those tests. They don't even give the drugs they need straight away to ease the pain.

22:47Why don't they do it? They say there are no beds. Are they really full? Yes, it's a mess. Truly awful. Worse than I can describe. Iran and the United States talk face to face for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Far away in foreign capitals, frantic efforts continued to bring the two sides together again. I don't know if that's whether any progress on a peace deal has been made. But there's stalemate. And many of those Iranians who'd at first welcomed the US and Israeli attack, hoping it might help topple the Islamic Republic, are questioning their initial support for the war.

23:26At their start, everyone was saying, at least if Israel and the US are pursuing their own interests, we might find some common ground with them. Like regime change, right? But now every day is worse than the day before. That blonde idiot just came in and made everything worse. Honestly, it's like they were just waiting. As soon as the January protests happened, they jumped in as if they were the saviors of the Iranian people. Exactly. Help is on the way. Honestly, we've seen nothing but destruction. And what's even left anymore, huh? Is this regime false? What's left that you could rebuild? I'm completely against the war now.

24:06God, how did we end up like this? Amid the damage, the deepening poverty, the intimidation, come reports on state-run media of executions of men accused of acting against the regime. The UN says the death penalty is now being used against political prisoners at a frightening pace to silence dissent. Some of the dozens killed over the past few weeks were only arrested during the January protests. Expedited proceedings followed by hangings at dawn.

24:42Diary, London. My sister is living inside this in a way I am not. On Thursday morning, when I spoke with her, she asked me about the news, as she always does. That day I told her that three people had been executed. With a tired voice she said, I know. When I mentioned the name of one of them, her voice suddenly went. She was deeply upset. She's always been against the death penalty. She often says that if you want to measure how controlling or dictatorial a government is, look at whether it's willing to abolish executions or not. For her, execution is not just a sentence. It's a tool to frighten people and keep them silent.