Scars of the Strike: Tehran After the Israeli Attack
WANA (Aug 06) – Just before midnight, the silence over Tehran was shattered by the sound of an explosion. The first missile landed somewhere in the northeast of the city. People were unaware of what was happening, and only panicked and confused. Iranian TV networks replaced their usual programming with urgent bulletins: “The Zionist regime has just attacked several locations around Tehran. Air defenses are responding.”
For the people, war was no longer a rumor. It had infiltrated their homes, slipped through their walls, and settled in the labored breaths of children, the trembling hands of fathers, and the worried eyes of mothers.
The war that had existed for years only in the discourse of politicians and military commanders was now felt in the streets of Tehran.
The conflict between Iran and Israel began in the early hours of June 13, 2025, initiated by Israel. The ensuing exchange of fire continued for 12 days.
During the 12-day conflict, countless precious lives were lost — an irreparable tragedy that can never truly be compensated for. Yet, beyond the loss of life, countless individuals faced the devastating aftermath of losing their homes.
Though losing a home may not weigh as heavily as losing loved ones, it symbolizes years of effort and dreams destroyed in an instant by the senselessness of war. Among those affected is Keyvan Saket, who, like many others, now faces the deep sorrow of losing his home.
Keivan Saket is an Iranian music professor who has lost his house in the war only because his home was near the Evin Prison, which was attacked by an Israeli missile on June 23rd, 2025. “I don’t care about the house; I would give my entire life for Iran,” says Keivan Saket as he plays the string in the remaining ruins of his home in Tehran, Iran, July 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
“War Room” in Tehran: Why Has the Defense Council Been Revived?
WANA (Aug 05) – Tehran has once again turned to one of its oldest security mechanisms: the National Defense Council. A body that had long remained silent is now reactivated at one of the region’s most volatile moments. Reviving this council is more than an organizational adjustment; it sends a clear message: Iran is preparing […]
The Sound of Iranian Music Among the Ruins Near Evin Prison
Keyvan Saket, a renowned Iranian musician and master of the tar, lost his home during the war simply because it was near Evin Prison — a notorious detention center for political prisoners — which was struck by an Israeli missile on June 23, 2025.
Sitting amid the ruins of his home, playing his tar, Keyvan says, “I don’t care about the house; I would give my entire life for Iran.”
Khadijeh Shageldi is a 58-year-old woman who is a resident of one of the main streets of Tehran, Shariati Street, where, after an attack on an area near her house, she lost her home and was traumatised by the events since she was there when the attack happened. She stands in front of her destroyed home in Tehran, Iran, July 17, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
Khadijeh Shageldi, 58, from Shariati Street, Tehran, lost her home after an attack nearby. Injured during the assault, she stands before her destroyed house, recounting what happened that day.
“My eyes still won’t close. That scene comes back every night.”
An Iranian woman, Zahra Ayobian, said she was shocked since she saw her neighbour’s dead body after the attack by Israel on June 15th, 2025, as she stands in the middle of the ruins of her neighbour’s house in Tehran, Iran, July 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
Zahra Ayoubi, 70, stands among rubble unrecognizable as a building, wearing a dust-covered scarf. She carefully places her foot on a tile that once belonged to her neighbor’s kitchen floor.
Her lips tremble. Fear consumes her. Gasping, she says, “That was my neighbor’s home. When the explosion came, I just ran. I didn’t know where I was going. The windows shattered, and smoke and dust filled the air. It was all over in seconds.”
But what broke Zahra wasn’t just the blast — it was what she saw afterward.
“When I got in front of her house… I saw her lifeless body under the rubble. Her face was dusty, but I knew it was her.” “I haven’t had a peaceful sleep since that day. My eyes refuse to close… that scene returns every night.” She pauses, tears welling up, trembling lips, brushing dust off clothes scattered on the ground — her neighbor’s clothes.
A general view of the destruction of a residential building after the Israeli attacks on Tehran on June 15, 2025, in Tehran, Iran, July 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
An Iranian woman, Azam, stands in the middle of the ruins of her neighbour’s house after the Israeli attacks on Tehran on June 15, 2025, in Tehran, Iran, July 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
Buildings that once stood orderly along Shariati Street are now piles of stone and metal. From the ruins, the sighs of onlookers can be heard. On a dusty metal bench, Azam, 50, sits in disbelief that she survived.
Azam recalls: “On the third day of the war, when I took my car out of the parking lot, I went back inside to hold my sister. Every time I left home, I did this because I felt it might be the last time I’d see her. While holding her, suddenly there was an explosion, and the blast threw us aside. When I saw only twisted metal left of my car, I realized how close I was to death.”
Parisa, 30 years old, stands in the middle of the destroyed house of hers that was also attacked on June 15th on Shariati Street in Tehran, Iran, July 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
In a half-ruined room with cracked walls and shattered windows that no longer know peace, Parisa stands, hands clasped, staring at her phone. Behind her, the familiar but devastated view of buildings on the verge of collapse.
She says she had just arrived home from university when the blast hit, filling the house with smoke within seconds. Pausing, her gaze lifts from the floor to the window, still searching for a familiar face, perhaps unable to believe the scene was real.
“I survived, but something inside me died. I can’t sleep at night. Every loud noise feels like an explosion—even the sound of a falling spoon.”
A large Iranian flag is seen on a building that was attacked by Israel in the Chamran residential complex in Tehran, Iran, July 19, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
Chomran Complex: The First Wound of War
June 13, 2025, Tehran
At dawn, the explosion echoed everywhere — a wave of light and fire breaking the silence. The first target was one of the busiest residential complexes in the capital: Chomran Complex.
In the opening minutes of the war, it was hit directly by an Israeli missile, causing a building to collapse moments later.
According to confirmed reports by Tehran’s Crisis Management Organization, at least 60 people were killed in the attack, including 20 children—some asleep, others in their parents’ arms.
Clothes, dolls, and a bicycle of the kids who were killed during Israel’s attack on the Chamran complex on the first day of the conflict, June 13, 2025, in Tehran, Iran, July 19, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
Among broken cement, dust, a discarded milk can, and collapsed walls, a doll in a pink dress lies on the ground. Her face is dirty. Nearby are a toy car and torn drawings — belonging to Zahra, a girl wounded in the attack.
Samira Ajami, mother of 3 kids, cries in her children’s bedroom while telling us about how her house was destroyed during the attack by Israel on the Chamran complex on the first day of the conflict on June 13, 2025, in Tehran, Iran, July 19, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
Samira Ajami, mother of three, stands in her children’s destroyed room. Walls cracked, the ceiling collapsed, and she was clutching a toy car and a certificate of achievement from one of her children. Her tear-streaked face trembles, eyes fixed on the spot that once was home, where her children’s laughter once filled the air.
In one of the bloodiest attacks of the Iran-Israel war on June 13, the Chomran residential complex in the heart of Tehran was targeted. Israel claimed only military sites were targeted — but Samira, holding back tears, says:
“They say they don’t target civilians… but what was this? This was my children’s room! This is my son’s karate certificate he worked so hard for. What’s left now?”
“My kids have nightmares every night. They say they never want to come back here. They say Israel came into their dreams. Aren’t these civilians?!”
In the room where once drawings, dolls, and dreams existed, now only silence remains—and the voice of a mother searching through the rubble for pieces of her past life.
A general view of the destruction of a residential building in Chamran residential complex in Tehran after the Israeli attacks on Tehran on June 13, 2025, in Tehran, Iran, July 19, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
Zeinab Nabavi, just 14 years old, stands in front of her devastated home, holding the hand of her two-year-old sister, Roqayeh. Their world was shattered during the Israeli attack on the Chamran complex on that fateful day, June 13, 2025, in Tehran, Iran, and on July 19, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
In front of a half-burned building scaffolded for support, 14-year-old Zeinab Nabavi stands, hands gripping a stroller where her two-year-old sister, Roghieh, sits. Behind them is the devastated view of what was their home just days ago.
Zeinab says she cannot forget the night of the attack—the explosion, collapsing windows, her mother’s screams, and Roghieh’s silent tears from fear. Her serious face betrays her young age.
“They said they were only hitting military centers, but this was our home… we had done nothing.”
Fatemeh, an Iranian woman, cries in her home in the Chamran complex, which was destroyed in an Israeli attack on June 13, 2025, in Tehran, Iran, July 19, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
In a corner of a room barely left intact, Fatemeh sits crying. Her eyes were red, her voice so low it’s only heard in the silence of the ruins. This was her home, now gone.
A general view of the destruction of a residential building in Chamran residential complex of Tehran after the Israeli attacks on Tehran on June 13, 2025, in Tehran, Iran, July 19, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
An Iranian woman, Ms. Sobhani, stands in her home in the Chamran complex, which was destroyed in an Israeli attack on June 13, 2025, in Tehran, Iran, July 19, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
Mrs. Sobhani, an Iranian woman living in Chomran Complex, stands tearfully amid the rubble of her home, once a place of life, now a graveyard of family memories, filled with debris, broken glass, and walls devoid of security.
With a trembling voice, she says:
“I was lying next to my child… suddenly there was an explosion… everything shook… I woke up to find the house full of smoke and dust. When I looked, a missile shrapnel had passed just above my child’s head… only a few centimeters away…”
Her voice breaks. She pauses to wipe her tears.
“It’s so painful… seeing your home like this… a month later, it still feels like that moment.”
A general view of the destruction of a residential building in Chamran residential complex of Tehran after the Israeli attacks on Tehran on June 13, 2025, in Tehran, Iran, July 19, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
Nikzad, an Iranian woman, poses for a photo in front of her house in the Chamran complex, which was destroyed in an Israeli attack on June 13, 2025, in Tehran, Iran, July 19, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
Mrs. Nikzad, an Iranian kindergarten teacher, stands silently before a collapsed building that was once her home. The building is part of the Chomran complex, which was directly hit in the early hours of the Iran-Israel war on June 13, 2025, turning to ruins.
Having worked with young children for years in the complex, Mrs. Nikzad has lost not only her home but also her beloved pupils. With a voice barely controlled, she says:
“Iran’s greatest loss these days is not just destroyed buildings but the shattered dreams of 22 children who died here — children who were supposed to be the future of this land.”
Her gaze falls on the floor that was once a kindergarten classroom. Bright colors and childish drawings have now been replaced by cracked walls and broken windows. A heavy silence follows.
Joy of Arab Nations over Iran’s Strike on Israel
WANA (Aug 04) – During days of intense unrest and tension in West Asia, Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone strike on Israel triggered a wave of reactions across the Arab nations. But more striking than any analysis or news headline was the joy of the people in Arab countries—both Shia and Sunni—over this decisive blow […]
