‘Nothing feels normal anymore’: How everyday Iranians are coping with war | CNN

When bombs started falling on Tehran in February, we heard much about the political ramifications, including the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader. But what about the ordinary people who call the capital home? Maryam Rahmanian, an Iranian-American photojournalist living in Tehran, wants to tell their stories. She took portraits of civilians who decided to stay in the city, asking them what the war meant to them and how it has affected their lives. “Some people had to keep working. Some stayed home and endured the hours in uncertainty. Some were focused on protecting loved ones. Others tried to hold on to a sense of normal life as that life became increasingly fragile,” said Rahmanian, who works in Tehran with the permission of the government. “These stories do not offer a complete account of the war. They offer something narrower, but no less essential: a record of how war is lived, carried, and remembered by those who remain inside it.” “I was at work around 9:40 a.m. when I heard the sound,” Salemeh told Rahmanian, recounting when the war began. “Everyone was very scared. We went up to the rooftop and saw the smoke.” They were all asked to g