At about 4am one day this week, a three-storey house in a residential neighbourhood of western Tehran was obliterated in an air strike. The iron frame was torn apart and nearby buildings, including a high-rise across the street, were severely damaged.
Amid the shattered glass, confused and shocked neighbours gathered to make sense of the destruction. “Who lived there?” they asked, according to one person present at the scene. Rescue teams arrived with dogs, combing through the rubble for survivors. Locals later speculated that a commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could have been the target, although it was not confirmed.
For residents of the city, dazed and ripped awake through the night by bombs that feel as if they are landing all around them, daily life seems like a gamble.