Pakistanis fleeing Iran described explosions and missile strikes across Teheran shaking the ground under their feet and engulfing buildings in fire and smoke in a city emptied of many of its residents.
The conflict has widened sharply, with a US submarine sinking an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on Wednesday and Nato air defences destroying an Iranian missile fired towards Turkiye.
Governments have been scrambling to evacuate stranded citizens, with most of the region’s airspace closed due to the risk of missiles hitting passenger planes.
“I was in the classroom when a powerful explosion rocked our university building,” Hareem Zahra, 23, a student at the Teheran University of Engineering, said after crossing Pakistan’s land border with Iran.
“We saw thick smoke coming from many buildings on fire,” she said, adding Teheran was under attack until the moment she left.
Nearly 1,000 students, businessmen and pilgrims have fled Iran since the conflict started out of a total 35,000 Pakistanis in the country, Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Teheran, said.
“There are now serious challenges. As you know, there is no Internet in most parts of Iran,” he said.
Iran has retaliated with a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting Israel and Washington’s allies in the Gulf, including Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, following US and Israeli air strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
Teheran has looked deserted since the conflict began, said Nadir Abbas, 25, a student of Persian literature at a university in Teheran.
“I saw a drone hit a basketball court where six girl players lost their lives.”
Reuters could not verify his account.
Islamabad is walking a diplomatic tightrope as it attempts to maintain warming ties with Washington while expressing solidarity with Iran.
Pakistan is home to the second-largest Syiah population in the world after Iran and being drawn into the conflict could lead to instability at home as well as complications evacuating its citizens.
“The first attack happened right next to my hospital,” said Sakhi Aun Mohammad, a student at Tehran University of Medical Sciences.
After he reached the border, an Iranian friend called to check if he was safe, saying: “‘Thank God, you have gone to Pakistan. All of you are safe, but your hostel has been attacked’.”
A Pakistani diplomat who is still in Teheran said attacks took place every four or five hours, adding one missile struck a building next to his office.
“At times you will feel as if something exploded right at your feet,” he said.
“The last time I got out was at night. Buildings had collapsed, some others were on fire. There is destruction everywhere.”
He added: “It is almost like a ghost town.” — Reuters
