A contact I have known for some time weighed in from an information space filled with chaos, disinformation, misinformation, and oh, so many gaps. I have no idea if she is still alive. Hope remains in her heart for Iran, but may be diminishing.
(Traduce en español/translate to Spanish / Farsi/Persian فارسی / Kurdish (Kurmanji) and کوردی (Sorani) / Arabic الترجمة العربية / Hebrew תרגום לעברית)
By Brian E. Frydenborg (Twitter @bfry1981, LinkedIn, Bluesky, Facebook, Substack with exclusive informal content) March 16, 2026; because of YOU, Real Context News surpassed one million content views on January 1, 2023, but I still need your help, please keep sharing my work and consider also donating as I make my overdue comeback! Real Context News produces commissioned content for clients upon request at its discretion. And See my related thread on the Iran-Israel-U.S.-war with over 250,000 views. I have made only light edits to punctuation/grammar and spelling with direct quotes at most. And apologies for not getting this out earlier, things have been overwhelming for me but I am still moving forward. The actual words of my source are in bold or block quotes below, though all hyperlinks have been added by myself.
SILVER SPRING—Amidst this truly absurd war, war I think of my many contacts throughout the Middle East region being affected directly, from Cyprus to Iran and many in between—war is, first and foremost, a human endeavor that ruins human lives—but especially I thought of one contact, a young Iranian woman with a journalistic background currently living in Tehran, whom I have known for some time and the credibility of whom for which I can vouch. She is not on the outskirts or a suburb, but right in the heart of the city in an area subject to heavy bombardment by the U.S. and Israel.
She is not an extremist—not some delusional Pahlavist monarchist restorationist, nor an apologist for the ayatollahs—and certainly has a modern perspective about many things, yet she is not a hater filled with bitterness. She still has hope, seems to harbor no illusions of the Iranian regime, nor its intentions, and does not support it.
She offered me her keen journalistic eye and analysis, but also offered her personal views, hopes, dreams, fears. I am keeping all other information about her and my connection to her private to protect her and prioritize her safety from the barbarous regime she is forced to live under as it confronts the U.S., Israel, and their regional allies in a way unlike any other conflict in recent memory (“Just trying not to be an easy target :)) ,” as she wrote).
When I asked her how she was doing at the beginning of this month, her response was poetic (you Iranians and your cultured ways!): “Yes I am fine, and half happy half devastated.”
The next day, when asked about safety and how she was able to communicate amidst a nationwide Internet blackout, she made a joke about staying home “if it is safe 🙂” and noted she has a certain special access to the internet (leaving details here out for safety reasons other than she later mentioned Starlink, which is rare and use is being observed). The next day, she explained she has been in Tehran for some time, in an area getting hit hard by airstrikes. Five days later, she noted that the internet even for her is not reliable. And she noted, in response to an inquiry, that the regime authorities, very much still in power, “have announced that even recording a video and sending it to global news agencies” to them “is an act of war, and they respond to that as such.” In other worse, death to “spies” and “traitors.” Just emailing me is a big risk.
She noted the that regime authorities that very morning had “reduced the gas limitation each car can receive to 20L due to the latest attacks.” She added that the “the whole city is in ashes and dark clouds, while we are under acid rain the whole morning” in light of that major Israeli attack on major oil facilities in Tehran. Not a vanishing regime, but one still maintaining authority and messaging. As she noted, “news is mostly communicated one-sidedly from the government through SMS [text messaging] to our phones, mostly saying Trump is after the dismemberment of the country, focusing on his latest remarks answering a question about whether Iran will be the same after this war: No.”
She also notes that “most people had left the city, but by starting the week on Saturday, they had returned to their routine and their jobs” (later, she estimated this at about half the population). Those who want to and can evacuate are able to; “so yes, we can leave the city, but I prefer to stay in Tehran for now.” She has family spread throughout different provinces, and most have “witnessed the huge aerial attacks last week.”
Again poetically, she remarks that: “Currently, everything wears uncertainty, and it’s a common ground in any war.”
She notes how many in Iran are confused and with different areas of focus, and trying to understand the foreign governments leading this war proves challenging:
People are in various groups now (unfortunately); some are waiting for Trump to show the next green light, some, like my aunt’s family, are mourning their loss in the Minab school. Some who have a higher voice gather every night in the streets, chanting and shouting in support of the government. So it’s not easy to say which one is more, especially when some groups have immunity, and some don’t.”
For her, the new revolution isn’t about pronouncements made by exiled groups or exiled leaders, but in the blood shed by the martyrs fighting for freedom inside Iran at great personal risk, the brave protesters of this recent January and before who were slaughtered by the thousands:
“The revolution is actually underway; the one that people showed during 8th Jan. No one has yet forgotten the 36,000 people who were killed heinously by the government. The revolution is underway, and many believe this war is an inevitable part of that. But it’s not wise to turn a blind eye to those who are terrified by the events and the uncertain future they are searching for between the lines of Western official statements.”
For now, there seem to be enough supplies in the city, and the government is even taking steps to warn people about the acid rain after Israel’s big oil facility strike in Tehran:
“About the acid rain, the governmental institutes like Helal-Ahmar have spread a manual through SMS to help people deal with that.” She also explains that internal communications networks are operating just fine, and have not been disrupted, as they were deliberately by the regime in January during the protests.
But then she goes deeper:
“Mentally, many are on the edge, while others who support the government try to hold up by gathering in the streets and mosques. However, I can easily note that mentally all feel better and more relieved than we experienced during the 7th and 8th of Jan and its aftermath.
People try to believe that the casualties, especially among civilians, are far less than those the government killed last month; yet, with every new civilian death, they are shocked and try to keep themselves together.
The divide among officials and their supporters is deepening day by day. Some are happy with President Pezeshkian apologizing neighboring countries for attacks, while some are cursing him for not being firm enough. While some are happy with Khamenei’s son’s choice as a new leader, some others believe they don’t know him enough for such a position. Meanwhile, we can’t hear a solid, united voice even inside.
The government is trying to make people believe that the United State tries to weaponize the Kurdish people in the west to initiate the ground operation while helping them to dismember the country. That’s something people are really sensitive about. But thankfully, till now, people have decided to believe Trump over the government sentiment.
Some of us believe that the United States and its allies are not simply here to help us or even to de-nuclearize the government. They believe sooner or later the US will deposit the check it paid for the Iran war by taking something from it; a land (in the south, the disputed islands, or in the west in the Kurdish region, or in the north in Azerbaijan) or by taking over Iran’s oil or its enriched Uranium. So uncertainty, in a moment when no sentiment or statement can be fully trusted, is all that seems to linger in the air these days.”
The next day, she expanded on the evolution of the perspective inside the country:
“During the first days, more people were confident in the war’s outcome. Now, with each passing day, they fear a long war, one they didn’t expect. Now they try to be ready for the long run.
For us, the revolution started in 2022 with the Mahsa Amini movement. We have risen and been suppressed during these years, but the world witnessed its climax in January 2026. As I’ve already said, most of us see this war as an inevitable part of that revolution We came to the conclusion that we can’t change the existing government, which proudly massacres its own people, without foreign intervention.
We witness now that the government’s repression capability is declining, but solely in terms of equipment. We can see another slaughter is on its way, on the same day the government sees that there is no way out of this war and will fall. We are somehow sure that another January will happen that day, even a bigger one. And I guess no other countries or officials can stop that.
Now, by naming the new leader, the fear of reaching an agreement with the US has risen again. People are scared of ending the war with this government in power. They know by heart that if that happens, there would be no chance to survive in Iran.
They talked about Venezuela before Khamenei’s death when they assessed the possible US action in Iran. Back then, they were like ‘there is no one in Iran they can trust, or the US can count on,’ and now they truly believe that.”
Her spirit seems indomitable:
“Thanks for telling our story, Brian 🙂
Actually, this morning the rain has stopped, and the weather is much better thanks to the wind.
Today is a sunny one 😉 ”
The thanks is to you.
Those last messages were a week ago. I have no idea if she is alive or dead. I have no idea if those dying in Iran now are part of something that will leave them more free (increasingly doubtful) or less free (very much increasingly likely). Like my contact, I hope for the best with all my heart. I hope she is alive with all my heart. If you’re still with us, stay strong. There are people who are with you and are listening, people who are eager to hear more and see you and you people and your nation free, free from the rule of either clerics and kings.
If anything I could type here would make that enough…
Here’s to hoping we get more updates from my contact, that she is alive, and that relief for the long-suffering people or Iran is on its way someway, somehow…
See my related thread on the Iran-Israel-U.S.-war with over 250,000 views.
© 2026 Brian E. Frydenborg all rights reserved, permission required for republication, attributed quotations welcome
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