Tehran Diaries (Dispatches from Iran under Siege)

From behind the blackout, a beautifully written and atmospheric portrait of life in the Iranian capital through the months leading up to the war.

In Iran’s capital city, the shops of the bazaar are shuttered, the streets quiet with fear. The internet isn’t working, conversations are confused and urgent, fraught with anxious expectation. Soon the US-Israeli bombardment will begin and the rain will turn black with fuel, burning the lungs and skin.

In this searing and contemplative work, writer, academic, and Tehran resident Raha Nik-Andish documents life in the Islamic Republic during the days and months leading up to “Operation Epic Fury.” In a rarely-seen portrait of a society in freefall, this is Tehran on the brink: protests over the collapse of the currency crushed, taxicabs circling the city searching for passengers and meager fares, burned-out garbage cans and the windows taped up.

What does it mean to exist under siege? How does one negotiate a blackout when trapped between devastation from the sky and repression on the street? How to know what’s happening? How to get the message out? Piercing, poignant, and delicately observed, this is the vital story of a city at the end of the world—and an act of witness against darkness.