Episode 50 – Inside Iran During the 12-Day War

In this episode, I sit down with a friend who was living in Iran during the 12-Day War. We’ve blurred his face and altered his voice to protect his identity — but everything he shares is real.

He didn’t just hear the explosions — he saw them, filmed them, and lived through them. He talks about what daily life looked like during the conflict, how people adapted, and what it felt like to be surrounded by that kind of uncertainty. We also talk about why he ultimately decided to leave when the borders reopened.

Beyond that, he gives context on Iranian culture, its rich history, and what the current situation looks like on the ground today. From his perspective, the future feels increasingly unpredictable — and many are questioning what comes next.

This was one of the most eye-opening conversations I’ve had. I hope it gives you a better understanding of what life in Iran is really like.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

uh

SPEAKER_02 0:06

really appreciate you hopping on to dive into your experiences as of late and also to help better inform people about what's truly going on in the Middle East, Iran specifically, and so on and so forth. We've been discussing this for a while, so I'm really excited about bringing you into the frame, giving you a platform to talk about these things, and also, once again, to help people better understand what's actually going on and what it was like to experience the 12-day war in Iran. So I'll let you kind of kick things off. maybe give a little bit of background introduction on yourself and then we will we'll proceed from there

SPEAKER_01 0:50

okay cool yeah we have been talking about it for a while um one of my friends i was here joked that uh i'm a refugee and uh i looked at the definition of refugee and it's like oh well shoot i actually do classify as one if i wanted to be and that's because like you said i um i was in iran during the 12-day war um and Well, yeah, there's some scary points to it. Obviously, you know, you got missiles flying, you got drones and jets and whatnot. But, um, uh, I also lived in Iran during the Iran Iraq war, which, uh, as a child was, uh, far more, uh, traumatic, I guess, than in the 12 days that just happened in June. Um, yeah, but, uh, overall it was, uh, kind of a surreal experience. I mean, uh, um, My house there is on the foothills of the mountain in northern Tehran. And so I had a panoramic view of just about everything. And I mean, it was interesting. I can't say it was cool, but it was definitely interesting.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

What is it? So we've talked a lot about the culture and the history of Iran, right? as it relates to this conflict. And so... For those that are listening, if you could give just a little bit of a background, a little bit of an understanding of not just this particular instance. Obviously, Israel and Iran have been going back and forth for a very long time. And things have obviously escalated a lot more as of late into now Israel finally firing on into Iranian territory. But I think a lot of people, when they think of Iran, they don't really fully understand the cultural landscape of Iran. So if you can kind of give a better understanding of the history and the cultural landscape and what it's like to live there so we can really humanize this experience. I think that's super important for a lot of the folks that are listening.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

I think, well, the biggest misconception is that Iran is not an Arab country. And it's like something I saw on Instagram. You know, just because it's an Islamic country doesn't necessarily mean it's an Arab country. And like the video I think I sent you, it's like, okay, France and Germany are the same country because they're both Christian countries. Right. So they're not. So ethnically, it's different. Linguistically, Farsi or Persian is an Indo-European language, whereas Arabic and Jewish or Hebrew are Semitic languages. So Arabs and Jews actually have a language root connection, whereas Farsi and Persian doesn't, either one of them.

UNKNOWN 3:43

Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

And I mean, but I want to kind of, and this is a touchy subject, but you got Iran as its own identity, and then you have like the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is the regime and the government. A lot of people that I've seen, especially on social media, refer to when they're talking about Iran, when they're saying Iran itself, they're talking about the land of Iran. right um not like the government or the regime so when they want to like pick out the regime they say the islamic republic and so a lot of opposition like regime opposition figures just started using this um but um you know i mean i say iran just because it's easier um but um i mean the conflict has been brewing for 46 47 years um since uh essentially the the monarchy in iran got overthrown by the islamic republic in 1979 um prior to that uh iran had um really good relations with with israel they had an embassy there um and especially with the united states until um the islamic students delicious students uh uh breached the u.s embassy and took hostages for i think 388 days or something like that so um this animosity uh i mean in our lifetimes yeah it's been my entire lifetime um but traditionally if you go back to the 50s 60s 70s um there was an animosity if anything there was animosity between iran and its arab neighbors not iran and the us and israel

SPEAKER_02 5:37

And Iran and the U.S. have a lot to gain from a partnership in general, right? A peaceful partnership and peaceful relationship. So that oftentimes, nobody really discusses that. And I think that's one of the most frustrating things when you think about what could come of a true relationship between the U.S. and Iran, what it could look like. So can we dive into that for a second, kind of explain why that would be advantageous for, obviously, for both countries to have a

SPEAKER_01 6:05

true relationship? Yeah, I mean, that would be insane because it would just open up the largest market in the world, 92 million people. I mean, right before... I mean, it's basically you got to look at what happened with Vietnam to do a comparative analysis. When we opened up with Vietnam, I don't have the population, but at the time, it was the largest... population that was closed off to trade. Right now, Iran is with 92 million people. To have a peaceful Iran that's not threatening its neighbors and neighbors not threatening Iran and just trading would be beneficial to everyone across the world. In Iran, you have uh the second largest natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest oil reserves in the world um i think i read somewhere it has the sixth largest coastline in the world um so i mean it's a resource-rich country

SPEAKER_02 7:25

I think to a certain degree, we already have this conversation about keeping certain things pretty high level in this conversation and being as honest as we possibly can about the situation without diving too far into personal opinions on certain items and topics. But as it relates to obviously the U.S. then deciding to get involved in Iran recently, this once again might go a little bit too far, but in regards to the U.S. deciding to get involved in Iran recently, How did that impact the feelings and emotions of the majority of Iranians, right? On the ground, there's a lot of different opinions of the U.S. in Iran. It seems to be, from what my research is, from what I've heard, from what I've delved into, that the majority of Iranians are actually pro-America. but that's not what is shared the vast majority of the time online. So what was the general feeling from the majority of the citizens after the U.S. decided to get involved in this conflict?

SPEAKER_01 8:35

I mean, okay, so I can't give an opinion on the opinions of 92 million people. But, I mean, I can say, like, so... And this is strictly non-scientific opinion, right? Because what you have to realize is Tehran itself has a population of anywhere from 12 to 15 million people, right? So when the bomb started flying on June 13th, right? And it was Friday the 13th, but I was supposed to leave that day and I canceled my flight. Yeah, well, I canceled it because... Friday the 13th part. That's a good idea. Yeah, I mean, I was like, Friday the 13th, I don't really want to be flying. There's two days you don't want to fly. Friday the 13th and September 11th. Those two are the days that just, those are no-fly days. But, so, June 13th happened, and I believe both Israel and the regime pulled people to evacuate tehran right um at this point uh still had access to social media still had access to the internet so i could see what was what was happening so a lot of things online with the opposition parties the monarchy and whatnot um obviously they're very pro-Israeli strikes. They're trying to advocate people going to the streets to topple the regime. But you had a mass exodus. So about June 14th or 15th, I think it was that Sunday or Monday, and one keynote, in Iran, Thursdays and Fridays are the equivalents of Saturdays and Sundays. So when the strikes happened on Friday the 13th, everyone was home. It was like, No one in on the streets, really. It was like a, you know, just a Sunday. So online, you know, everyone was cheering. And on the streets, generally people were really scared. I remember not that Friday, but on the 14th or 15th, you know, I was going down to see my dad. And you got a sense of, it was like eerie. you know, it was like the streets were just empty. Um, to give an example, like from my place to my dad's place on a normal day, non, uh, rush hour, it would take me 50 to 60 minutes to get to my dad. I got to my dad's house in 17 minutes. Wow. Right. I mean, it was just eerily empty. And this was like people at home, people just stayed at home. Um, and, um, And then when the orders came to like evacuate, I mean, everyone evacuated. I've never seen anything like that. I mean, you and I like knowing like in Charleston when there's a hurricane coming and they're like, oh, well, you know, the hurricane is coming in five days. So people just gradually leave. I mean, sometimes there's a, you know, cluster and everyone leaves at the same time. But generally like, you know, you got to, you got a soft exodus, right? This was like a very hard, 15 to 20 hour exodus. It was just absolutely pandemonium. If you look at the geography of Tehran, you're going to notice the Alborz Mountains. Inside those mountains or on the roads or whatever, there's a lot of these little villages that people go to on Thursdays and Fridays just to sit by a river or The villa, so people have villas there. It usually only takes about an hour. And my friends were in traffic for like 13, 14 hours. That's the scope of the exodus. It was insane.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

Where were the majority of people going? Was it more of just a get out of Tehran and just figure it out along the way? Or did the majority of the people have another location? Or is there another bigger city nearby they were planning on going to?

SPEAKER_01 13:07

So... Um, Iranians are very, very family oriented. Um, and for me, it was, uh, to be honest, it was a little bit hard to understand how, like, let's say you have one uncle that has like a villa in, in these mountains or to the West or East of Tehran. And all of a sudden you had families of like 20, 30 people huddling in a, at the, at the uncle's house. And, um, whether it's a matter of like you're a man, a woman, um, Um, you just, they just left. Right. And, um, and yeah, it was just, it was just weird. I mean, I was, I stayed, um, which we'll get into. So I can, yeah, I'll get into that one too. But no, I mean, everyone just went to their family's house for like 10, nine, 10 days. Right. And I mean, we're talking about six month old, like living with their, their 90 year old grandfathers. Like, I mean, Some of the scenes my friends were describing were just like, I would much rather be here. And then, I mean, just also think about the logistics, right? So let's say these mountains, right? So one in particular is called Megun, right? And again, it's like an hour, hour and 15 minutes from Tehran. Well, it's a village, right? It doesn't have the capacity to hold a million people. It doesn't have the food capacity. It doesn't have the water capacity. It doesn't have the electric capacity. All these guys fled the war only to get stuck in places with no water or no electricity. Whenever they would call me, it's like, oh, what are you doing? It's like, oh, I'm in Tehran taking a shower with electricity.

SPEAKER_02 15:01

We were texting and you said Charleston hurricane season really prepared me well for the 12-day war. Absolutely. I don't know that anything can prepare you for a situation like that. But the pictures you sent over were just a bunch of canned goods. And saying, hey, I've got about 14, 15 days worth of food. Hopefully this lasts me. And the period lasted for 12 days. And then you were able to get out after that. The videos you took from your balcony... and then share during your time there, I think gave me a much better understanding of obviously your proximity to everything. And Tehran's obviously a very big city, but when your city is being bombed, it doesn't matter how big the city is, right? It's all right there. And I think it also kind of brought into... Well, it gave me a better understanding, too, of... what that's maybe like when your friends are there and and or loved ones and our you know obviously our friendship goes way back and so the entire time i'm thinking okay this is not just a conflict in another country this is now a conflict with with people that i care about and so it changes it changes everything dramatically at that point so with you obviously being there and having family there uh and truly having loved ones in that direct vicinity What was it like trying to move family members around and truly protect them, but also maybe simultaneously feeling helpless at the same time?

SPEAKER_01 16:45

To be honest, my only family member there is my dad. I have aunts and uncles, but I haven't seen them in years. I'm just there for my dad. That was my first priority was to make sure he was all right. um and he has a caregiver so i had to make sure she was comfortable they had everything so yeah i went in and bought some uh you know some dried beans you know and just something that had a longer shelf life no cans because my dad doesn't eat canned food um but you know just um lentils and whatever so

SPEAKER_02 17:25

long it's because he doesn't eat

SPEAKER_01 17:26

yeah maybe maybe but um but uh Yeah, I mean, during the first couple of days, so I would say that for the first five days or so, I did go see him. Actually, maybe longer. No, for the first like eight, six, let's just say a week. For the first week, I would go down and see him. And yeah, sure, it was kind of weird because I'd be on one highway going down and everything's fine. And on the way back up, also you see a plume of smoke. Right. Um, and I mean, that was kind of interesting, uh, to experience. I never got close enough, um, to anything. I mean, um, my neighborhood did get bombed. Um, but, uh, but in terms of like moving my dad around, uh, he, he just didn't want to go like flat out. He's just like, I want to stay here, which in hindsight, I'm glad I kind of trusted his instinct because, I mean, he's 95 years old. He would have gone batshit crazy if he was stuck in traffic for 18 hours going to the Caspian Sea. Like, it just wouldn't have been fun for him at all. So it's like, he just, I mean, you know, so he has hearing aids. So I remember, you know, one day I'm there and I'm just like giving him the one last thing. I'm like, hey, do you want to come to my house? Or, Do you want to go to the Caspian? And he's like, no. And then just a couple of blocks away, as we're having this conversation, a missile strike, right? So I'm like, oh, that was close. And the house kind of shook. So my dad was like, what was that? I'm like, oh, it was a bomb. And he's like, oh, where? So he came by the window to look at the plume of smoke and then he's like okay i'm like are you sure you want to stay he's like yeah i'm like okay can we keep the curtains closed at least like just in case and then he's like no i like i like the curtains open so i was like all right he's stubborn obviously right um and i'm like okay but you're gonna you know hear things And then he's like, not if I don't have these. And he just takes his hearing aids off, turns on, put them on the table. And I'm like, okay. So I look at the caregiver and I'm like, are you okay? Yeah. And I was like, are you okay being here? Like, I mean, you know, obviously your mom and dad are worried about you. She's like, eh, it's fine. And I was like, all right, got cool customers. That's fine. So I just went down to the shop and I bought some tape. And I just kind of taped his windows. And that was it. And I told him specifically, I'm not coming back for a couple of days. And he was like, okay, have fun. Be safe.

SPEAKER_02 20:37

That was it. It is strange to me how nonchalant you kind of were through all of this. And I know there was a period where it seemed like you were quite on edge. when we first started talking and things were heating up, but then you were taking videos, you're taping windows for your dad, but it almost seems like people i say people in the region i don't i don't know once this is i have no idea what it is but it almost seems like we've become desensitized to these things now and maybe it's because it we've seen online so much but do you think it's more so that or that things people have experienced these things and so they're just kind of like well it is what it is what do you think that is because i've The whole desensitizing side of things, too, I feel like we see so much online nowadays, especially like the Ukraine-Russia situation more recently, and then shifting into Gaza, and now shifting into this conflict, that it almost seems as though when it occurs, people just are like, it is what it is. So was that your approach to it, or do you think it was something completely different?

SPEAKER_01 21:58

I mean, it had several levels to it. The first couple of days, like you said, I was kind of on edge. Because, I mean, bombs flying. I mean, you're seeing buildings explode. Right. So, right in front of you. And so, there's a couple of... I mean, I'm generally a very calm person. I think my stress tolerance is pretty high. I don't really get rattled. but um but yeah the first couple of days was kind of kind of hairy and i remember um i was with my uh lawyer and my friend and we had to drop the lawyer off at a government building and that's when i was just like oh i don't think we should be around here like we should leave right uh and sure enough four hours later like building next to where we were exploded right

SPEAKER_02 23:02

wasn't that the thing

SPEAKER_01 23:04

no no no that was later um but so that was just like so i just called my lawyer i'm like dude like don't go into i mean he's my friend too now um so i'm like just don't go into government buildings just maybe just stop working for a week right so that was one thing and um and then There was one incident, there was one missile strike that actually did kill some civilians in Tajrish. And I used that intersection at least four times a day, right? I did not know there was an IRGC district headquarters there. I had absolutely no idea, right? No one knew. But I mean, that's what Israel targeted. And it hit that target so precisely. that the two buildings side by side only had blown windows. Right. But that strike also killed, I think 30, 35 innocent people. Um, and it hit a massive, uh, water pipe. So that district didn't have water for like three or four days. Um, I

SPEAKER_02 24:18

saw videos of like flooding in that area due to the water.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Yeah. Yeah. That was it. Um, And so right then I kind of just realized, one, obviously timing, but two, maybe it's like they're being so precise that I wasn't too worried in a sense. That's why I think when I became calmer because, I mean, my neighbors are regular people. They're not government officials. They're not military officials. And that's kind of when I decided– when I leaned on just, okay, I'm probably just not going to leave the house for the next couple of days. Um, and then about a day after that, I started seeing, um, the Islamic militia, the best siege we're doing, um, check checkpoints, uh, all over Tehran, uh, looking for spies, looking for, um, anything. Um, and I mean, I'm not a regular guy, but when I started checkpoints going up and I mean, i don't know maybe like one of these islamic militia guys is a high commander and israel has a drone overhead i don't want to be stuck in a checkpoint you know what i mean right so it wasn't necessarily what what the islamic militia were doing but i just didn't want to be around anything military related um to the point of like yeah i didn't want to be around trucks um anything that could possibly be a target uh so that's when i just decided i'm just gonna stay home um and play with the street cats.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

The best thing to do during war.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

Yeah. You know, I'll go feed them. I mean, those poor guys had to eat too.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

Yeah. You mentioned the precise nature of the Israeli bombings. And this, once again, trying to better understand how precise they actually are versus when you're not there, right, is very difficult. when you read and you see these things online and you try to think to yourself, okay, I'd like to think that these bombings are going to be incredibly precise so that they avoid killing as many citizens as possible. But unfortunately, people do die in conflict. But you mentioned the precise nature of their strikes. Can we talk to that a little bit more just so people understand maybe how precise they were? And also... why it's maybe frustrating for people to see everything online as it relates to gaza right and see completely flattened cities but also realize that the capabilities of the israeli military give them the ability to precisely strike certain buildings and have very few casualties in a a country with 90 plus million people but then completely decimate entire cities and leave no building standing in other conflicts.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

Yeah. So to answer your original question, too, I do think we've lost a little sensitivity because of online stuff. I mean, look at mass shootings in the US. I mean, they're not even headline news anymore. When you're scrolling, it's like somewhere on the bottom. Oh, six people got shot, whatever. So it's like, you don't even click on it anymore. So that aspect of it is, I mean, I wish humans weren't like that, but we are. Um, I mean, even back home, like, I don't know, floods happened in Texas. Like what was that two weeks ago? It was on the news for how many people died? Like what? 150 people drowned or something. Yeah. Yeah. I think it was over a hundred. Yeah. And I mean, that's devastating. It's 150 souls that are gone and it was on the news for maybe 24 hours. That was it. I do think the media is definitely to blame for affecting us in some way.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

We're also kind of to blame for falling into the trap and doom scrolling for hours on end that leads to the removal of the sensitivity of these particular subjects and topics. There's a personal part of it, but also we've been presented with this technology and it's let us down this path.

SPEAKER_01 28:47

Yeah. But okay, in terms of like Gaza and comparing it to Iran or even like Russia and Ukraine, right? I mean, what Russia is, I have Ukrainian friends in Kiev, right? In the southern part of the country. And I mean, they go into bomb shelters, right? Because Russia indiscriminately will hit a residential tower. They send in these Iranian-made drones and discriminate hitting residential buildings, whereas Ukraine hasn't done that to Russia. They hit oil facilities, military bases. That's the way they've done it. I don't know the reasons for it. I can have an opinion. With Gaza and Iran, the differences I think are... uh, and for the record, I would like to say that I do think, um, uh, Israel has committed, uh, war against humanity. Um, you know, you could possibly even look into genocide, uh, for starving people. Um, I definitely think it should be, uh, investigated, uh, to this handling of that conflict. Um, you have 60, 70,000 innocent people that are dead, you know, I think I read like there's a child dying every hour from starvation or something. I mean, that's just, that's not cool. That should definitely be investigated. But in terms of, in terms of Iran, it was when I noticed that they're strictly at least doing their best to only hit military assets and or government assets. And when it hit like the central TV station, I mean, one of their commanders that could speak fluent Farsi better than me, they went online and said, hey, if you're in District 2, get out. And I mean, I can see District 2 from my balcony. So I'm like, oh, they're going after the TV building, the TV and radio building. Sure enough, like an hour later, and it was so precise that when the broadcaster said, was doing her, I don't know, 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. spiel. I mean, her studio was gone. She was live on air, but she didn't die. I mean, that's how precise it was. So in that sense, I was like, all right, well, I mean, I guess I'm just not going to go anywhere. And the difference is, again, I think, unfortunately, it does come back to, Right? I mean, the West, regardless of what happens in Iran, whether it's, I mean, whether the regime changes or the Islamic system remains, whether they all become friends and, you know, whatever, right? You're not, you can't have 92 million people hate you. Right? It's just, if you have 92 million people hate you, you're not going to be able to sell Fords. You're not going to be able to sell refrigerators. Capitalism doesn't work very well when 92 million people hate you. Exactly. I think they're very precise for that reason. I'm very cynical, but I think that's why, whereas in Gaza, they don't really care. There's nothing there. You're going to need access to Romanian natural resources. Yeah. Whereas there aren't international retours in Gaza. I mean, it's a very cynical way of looking at it. It's unfortunate, but I am a cynical person. And that's just my reasoning behind it.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

What else from your experience do you think would be helpful for people to understand and or for you to share so that people can better understand what this experience was like and how it maybe changed you? as an individual. Because at this point, you've lived a very well-traveled life and have had experiences that the vast majority of the population will maybe never have. But with this experience, what maybe changed the most about you? And maybe it was nothing. Maybe nothing changed.

SPEAKER_01 33:35

I don't think much changed. I mean, no, I don't think it changed much. I mean, again, I think I like the fact that I'm more aware that I'm very calm under pressure. Right. I don't freak out. I like, you know, I've definitely learned to take a step back. Right. And just look at the situation and analyze it. Just make a rational decision rather than overreact and get stuck in 18 hours of traffic. Right. I

SPEAKER_02 34:08

mean, you also have access to your bank account.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

too I mean you yeah yeah

SPEAKER_02 34:13

a lot of things happen all at once

SPEAKER_01 34:15

yeah yeah a lot of things happen at once it's alleged that Israel or somebody hacked a couple of government run banks so my bank account got hacked and the authorities cut the internet for I think it was a full 72 hours or maybe even more which is not

SPEAKER_02 34:37

abnormal it happened before

SPEAKER_01 34:40

not to this extent okay i will tell you actually one thing that did change and the thing that changed um was uh generational uh because i am stuck to this device right so and my friends generally thought that i'll go crazy not having internet for like three or four days and um I somehow just thought, I'm like, okay, what can I do without the internet, right? So I was just thinking, I'm like, all right, you know what? I have 37,000 photos on my thing, and let me go ahead and just delete these things. So span of four days, I deleted 130 gigabytes of of duplicates or like you know blasts like you know it's like you got like i don't know stupid picture of like a shot glass or something or whatever right um so i systematically like set up a chart and because i mean you can't sit there and just delete delete all day so i'll just be like okay i deleted this many until this day and then like an hour later i'll just come back and like do it again right and um So I was thinking to myself, I was like, okay, you know, had I, if I were not Gen X, if I were like maybe even a millennial or late, if I was later than millennial, definitely I would have lost my mind. Right. But just because I was Gen X and like we're the last one that, you know, had the rotary phone and then transition to, you know, whatever technology we have now. So I was just like, yep, that is confirmation right there. So, I mean, I just, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:30

So I guess, for example, your dad didn't even probably think about it. He was like, oh, this is great. We could care less. He just continued painting and hanging out.

SPEAKER_01 36:39

Yeah. That was it. He could care less. So internally, I could make phone calls. So I would call his caregiver and chat with her and chat with him. So that was fine. And I would call my friends. so I mean yeah in that sense it was fine but like I mean I went through I would say six days of complete isolation minus hanging out with the cats downstairs but like my entire building was gone I mean it's four families or four units it was completely empty my entire street was empty Um, I mean, it was impressive. Like I was like, Oh, I don't need social interaction. Like I was perfectly fine. Um, and, uh, yeah, I'll just go and like play like civilization six or whatever that I had downloaded on my computer. And then, you know, I'll take notes about like how it felt, you know, what was the feelings I was going through, which we'll probably talk about that in another episode or something. But, um, And I think, uh, I think my friends abroad were more stressed out than I was because I'd gone radio silent. Um, and I mean, I remember when the internet did come back up, um, I was asleep. So I woke up and there was like, I had like 550 or so notifications from Instagram to WhatsApp to iPhone messages. And I was just like, I really liked it when I didn't have notifications in a way. It was like, I was kind of like, I want to go back to analog. Right. Um, obviously we're analog. We wouldn't be able to do this. So, you know, it's nice, but, um, that was something that definitely realized I was interesting.

SPEAKER_02 38:47

I'd say it's nice to disconnect, but under probably better or

SPEAKER_00 38:52

different circumstances. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:53

Yeah,

SPEAKER_01 38:54

exactly. Um, but I mean, you know, uh, Like, I had my camera, so it was like, you know, the city was, other than the times where there was smoke from explosions, just taking 10 million cars off the road. It was basically, okay, if Corona also, or COVID hadn't happened, I probably would have reacted differently, but it was a very similar experience of, you know, social isolation, but in all sense, like, the air is completely clean. Right. And, I mean, I was seeing, so again, I'm in the north of the city. And the Tehran refinery, well, the refinery is the exact southern point of where I am. And generally, I can't see it at night, right? But I could just visibly see the damn thing. And I was just like, wow, I hadn't seen that in a long time. Because there were no cars on the road, therefore no. Well, yeah. I mean, it was great. And then there's some parts that are like surreal because like you're standing there, staring out your window, and all of a sudden you just see a drone fly overhead and launch a missile and then disappear. You're just like, okay, that just happened.

SPEAKER_02 40:14

I hope we don't normalize experiencing war in general, but in regards to preparing for everything and always being prepared. for something like this? What would be a suggestion? Because you talked about being calm and being a calm person and keeping your composure during this time. For those that obviously have never experienced war, which I'd like to think is, at this point, kind of the majority of the world in regards to a combat zone and or a war-like situation, situation which is a beautiful thing but it obviously is picking up uh around the world for those who have not experienced it yet in regards to preparing for this mentally what would you suggest because you mentioned a lot of emotions

SPEAKER_01 41:06

i mean so yeah i mean so it was pretty funny oh also sad that uh i actually on on june 12th I texted my friends, hey, I think Israel is going to strike between now and Monday or Tuesday. And all my friends were like, no, it's not going to happen. Bullshit. Well, it happened the next day, right? And part of that is because, well, I mean, I have a political science background from college, grad school, also following the news and seeing certain patterns of helps prepare yourself for that. I had canned food on June 12th. I was like, I want to shut off my gas valve. We don't want that. I was like, I can live off canned beans for two weeks. I did that on June 12th and on June 13th it happened. Again, when I say it's like a Charleston hurricane prepared me, Um, that wasn't really a joke. Um, because, um, well, I mean, I would say Charleston hurricanes and, um, growing up in Southern California with earthquakes, right. It's always had that prep mentality because I remember like elementary school, we always like had to, you know, when it was an earthquake alert, uh, you know, we always ducked underneath our desks and then, you know, we walked to the highest ground. Right. Um, Charleston, obviously, you know how hurricane preparations are. Also, the reason why I say the Charleston part is because a hurricane is just as unpredictable as a missile. I would actually say a missile is more predictable than a hurricane, especially when they're targeting a set pattern. In terms of preparing for something like that, I don't know. I mean, food and water supplies you know I mean I had I mean I drink a lot of water so I had three weeks of water like in the other room right so I mean so in terms of like nourishment that was fine it would have been helpful if the authorities had sirens that would have been that would have been helpful no sirens Not

SPEAKER_02 43:47

much you can do about that,

SPEAKER_01 43:48

personally. No, not much I can do. But I do remember sirens during the Iran-Iraq war as a child, though. Yeah, I mean, not much I can do about any of that stuff. But in terms of me, I just made sure my dad was fine. I taped up my windows. I had a small generator that because the power did go out a couple of times. I don't know, regular prep stuff. Mentally, it's

SPEAKER_02 44:25

not a bad idea to get prepared

SPEAKER_01 44:27

for anything. I don't think mentally you can prepare for it. Obviously, I would probably be speaking in a different tone if God forbid something happened to someone I knew. I don't. I literally don't know anyone even fourth degree removed that something happened to them. So that for me was like, okay, well, nothing really to worry about. Just sit it out.

SPEAKER_02 44:58

I think most people don't worry about things until it does directly impact them, right? So that's kind of what I say. In preparation for it mentally, something like this occurring in the future, whether it be a hurricane and or obviously a war-like situation.

SPEAKER_00 45:12

There's a mental

SPEAKER_02 45:14

preparation that goes into it as well that you kind of talked about, like being truly calm and collecting yourself and figuring out your next move instead of... Freaking

SPEAKER_01 45:23

out. Freaking out. Freaking out is the worst thing you can do. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 45:27

As it relates to the current situation in Iran, you and I have talked a little bit about this, but from your conversations with those that are still in Iran... Yeah. what is the current mindset mentality vibe what's the situation

SPEAKER_01 45:49

currently

SPEAKER_00 45:51

um i mean without

SPEAKER_01 45:53

you know trying to give my opinion um it's not good it's really not good um i mean i was talking to one of my friends earlier today like right before we started talking and i was like how's the situation he's like well we have like anywhere from two to eight hours of blackouts because the power grid can't handle it. Tehran itself has 40 degree Celsius temperatures, which is, I would say, higher than average for August. So you compound out with no electricity, so your coolers aren't working. And then now you have water outages as well. And the situation is just not good at all. And I really... I hate saying I feel sorry for them because it's such a pity kind of move, but I just think people deserve... I mean, a country that's so resource-rich shouldn't be going through this.

UNKNOWN 47:03

Right.

SPEAKER_01 47:03

Just flat out. So I hope... And I think even the president mentioned it, that they need to figure out the water situation in the next month or Tehran is going to be left without water. And even he was like, this is not good for this regime if we run out of water.

SPEAKER_02 47:28

Is the water issue, though, a result of the war or is it just a result of... warmer than normal summers and draining of reservoirs and what what

SPEAKER_01 47:40

yeah okay um i mean you know i'm a climate change activist um so uh i do believe in you know man-made climate change and yeah i mean you have a lake in the northwest of the country that's dry for the first time in 13 000 years right um like i was actually looking at a lake I'm sorry, a dam northeast of Tehran where I used to go fishing with my dad, right? It is completely dry, right? In this situation, yes, maybe climate change has altered the seasons. When I was a child at the same home that I'm living in, on average, we would get like three meters of snow My dad's house, which is in southern Tehran, which is about eight degrees warmer than the northern Tehran. I mean, you used to at least get like a meter of snow. No snow. I mean, my dad hasn't seen snow in like six years, right? You think it's a result of

SPEAKER_02 48:54

Iran? Well, lack thereof of cloud seeding and weather manipulation. Because it's very well known nowadays that we are manipulating the weather, right? All around the world. One specific example, like Middle Eastern country, like Dubai. The UAE is dramatically cloud seeding to then be able to increase their precipitation. And we've obviously been doing a lot in the US. So I guess my follow-up to that too is that is it a man-made thing or is it more of a, does it seem like a strategic result of removing water from that area? I mean, or to cause harm to the regime, which once again, that is totally kind of a conspiracy question slash common.

SPEAKER_00 49:44

I don't think I would go that far

SPEAKER_02 49:46

nowadays where we know it is publicly.

SPEAKER_01 49:49

Yeah. I think one, I mean, it's a combination of factors. I think man-made climate change has made that happen. complete water mismanagement has caused that to happen. Again, I mean, it has the sixth largest coastline in the world, sixth or seventh largest coastline in the world. I mean, you could have built 20 desalination plants and it would have solved the problem, right? And then, you know, you had... It's more of

SPEAKER_02 50:23

a competence issue

SPEAKER_01 50:25

in your

SPEAKER_02 50:26

In your opinion, is it more of that or is it more of a climate change issue? Or them both?

SPEAKER_01 50:31

Well, I think climate change definitely has an aspect of this. I mean, they can't do anything with... Okay, if they had cloud seeding technology, so maybe if there's no sanctions, they could have bought cloud seeding machines or rockets or whatever they are. But because of sanctions, the regime really can't buy anything. So... They're limited in that sense. But it's also something that, I mean, for me, to like listen to an elected official, the president of the country saying, oh, we need water. We need to figure this out in a month or we're screwed. Well, bro, you had like 40 years to figure this out, right? If you hadn't figured it out in 40 years, you're not going to figure it out in a month. I hope they do. I really hope they do. I mean, just the other day, I was talking to one of my friends. And so she's broke because she hasn't been able to get a job in God knows how long. And whatever job she does get, like freelance stuff, the prices have gone up so high, like she can't afford it. And she's texting me and she's like, okay, I have no water and I haven't had electricity in seven hours. We haven't had water in four days, right? And I was like, well, crap. And then she was crying because she's like, I need to give water to my dogs. She had two large dogs. She's like, okay, fine. I don't drink that much water, but my dogs need water. I was like, well, why don't you just go buy bottled water? She's like, I don't have money for bottled water. I was like, would you like me to send you some money? Then she's like, if you would, that'd be great. It was like 100 bucks. Even for 100 bucks, she was so grateful. So she went and got bottled water for the dog and sent me pictures like, see, I'm buying it for the dogs. I'm like, you don't need to send me pictures, right? But like saying stuff like that is just like kind of sucks. I mean, it does make you angry because I mean, we have the same thing in the US too, right? I mean, it's like the same thing keeps happening over and over and over again and you can't find a solution to it. Well, government's job is to protect. That's the most basic thing that you have to do. Otherwise, what's the point of a government?

SPEAKER_02 53:01

It's like paying for an HOA without being the benefits of an HOA. I appreciate our conversations often, not just because of the depth that we go into in regards to politics and government and business and the economy. Typically, that's where a lot of these conversations go, but I think today's conversation and podcast is... hopefully more so been focused on the human element of all of this and while people are so fixated by what governments are doing i think it's important that people better understand the human aspect of the element of all this

SPEAKER_01 53:38

too and that part was really great um i'll add this that i was other than hearing about one or two incidents um it was great to hear how people help each other. So like you asked earlier, you know, do people just have a place to go outside of Tehran? Well, a lot of people are poor. They don't have anywhere to go. And neighbors open doors to neighbors, right? There were even some things that I saw that like until the internet got cut, you know, I mean, somebody had just built a building or something in some other city and they're like, you know, posted on Instagram. It's like, all right, I got 30 units of, you know, you don't need to pay me rent. You don't need to do anything. Um, it's very basic accommodations, but like the first 30 people that messaged me are welcome to come. And I did. Um, so, I mean, and hearing stuff like that was great. Um, only heard like one or two things about like price gouging, which kind of sucked, but, uh, I mean, we get that in the U S too. Um, like with hotels and whatnot. Yeah. Um, but other than that, like the fact that everyone was, I mean, people were checking up on me that, uh, I hadn't even heard of in the four years that I'd been there. They're like, are you okay? Do you have anything? Do you need anything? Or whatever. I was just like, I mean, that was really touching. Yeah. So that was good.

SPEAKER_02 55:05

Yeah. Is there anything else that you want to add in this episode? I know we've talked a lot about the emotional side of things to the thoughts and the feelings and maybe the philosophical element of this as well. I know you're a big-time writer, so a lot of these thoughts were probably written down and or shared elsewhere. But is there anything else that on today's episode, which is episode 50, by the way, so we're hit number 50, that you'd like to share with those that are listening?

SPEAKER_01 55:35

um just uh i don't like people jumping the conclusions um for example um one of my friends who's in dc um you know massive um advocate of many different things like animals climate whatever and then like the gaza situation um it's really easy to fall into conspiracy theories or misinformation um And she posted something that, you know, an Iranian official was trying to negotiate with, with the United States about the nuclear deal. And he was killed on the first night of the, of the strikes. So I just told him, I was like, no, he's, he's alive. Like they, they hit his penthouse. I mean, I drove by and I saw the penthouse, like just gone. Right. But he survived. Right. He was, he was there when, when they hit him too. But again, he survived. And when I told her that, she's like, no, you're just anti-Israel. Because she was advocating that Israel didn't want peace between the United States and Iran, or the Islamic Republic. And I was like, okay, I've seen this with my own eyes. He's alive. Unless they have a double of him, he went to state funerals. I mean, He's been all over state TV. She's like, no. You just don't want to hear the truth. I keep on seeing this meme from Keanu Reeves that's like, I'm done debating stupid people. If you think one plus one is five, fine. It's five. I'm just not even going to bother anymore. I think that's critical, but unfortunately, not just Americans, everyone's like that. Um, which is really unfortunate. And I mean, I, I, I would see things and I can't really read Farsi that well. Um, I mean, I can like grab headlines, but when I see something, whether I sent it to a couple of friends that can actually read, right. And I was like, is this real or is this fake? Right. So for example, uh, somebody in New York had sent me, uh, a video clip of Iranians in this one district of Tehran celebrating and honking their horns. Celebrating an Israeli strike. I was like, they're wearing jackets. It's 30 degrees Celsius out there. These people are wearing jackets. This makes absolutely no sense. But then the title was like, oh, Iranians celebrating Israel. So I'm like, hold on. So I sent it over to a couple of my friends. I was like, why aren't they wearing jackets? It's like, oh, no, this was like the celebration of when like the Iranian national soccer team like made it to the Asian Cup finals or something like whatever. Right.

SPEAKER_02 58:57

How much misinformation is out there, too? You have no idea. You see a video, especially with AI nowadays, too. We're so easily guided into a certain direction. I've made that mistake. He wants us to think.

SPEAKER_01 59:12

I've made that mistake. I think I posted something on Instagram two weeks ago or something about how humans and dogs have an ancient pact or whatever. and my friend bobby in uh houston he's like bro like what it's like this is fake and i was like well this is a decent uh page it's like um last time i checked humans didn't have seven toes right so i was like i looked at i was like

SPEAKER_02 59:44

but

SPEAKER_01 59:44

due to your emotional attachment to dogs oh it's like i want to advocate that but i didn't pay attention to the fact that this boy had seven dogs, right? So I was like, oh man, like, I'm going to have to delete this, right? And even like political ones, like...

SPEAKER_02 1:00:02

But I'd like

SPEAKER_01 1:00:02

to believe there's an impact between dogs and humans, 100%. I think so. Well, maybe wolves.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:08

Regardless of the AI image that's

SPEAKER_00 1:00:10

shared. Yeah, but like, but even like political stuff, because like, I mean, I attacked to like the far right and far left at the same time, right? And I remember something of like Marjorie Taylor Degreen, I posted it, and it turns out it was fake. And I was like, son of a bitch. And then there was something like AOC, and I was like, oh, AOC. And then someone else was like, dude, that's fake. And I was like, yeah, I'm just going to stop posting.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:36

It's almost defeating nowadays, too, because you get online hoping to find truth and the right information, and you have to weed through so much BS. It seems as though nowadays 90% of what's online is fake. not truly factual and or is misguiding people. So even for me, like presenting the right information or trying to present more factual information and truly staying curious about what's actually going on is difficult when you've got so much BS out there. So in this particular situation, actually having a friend on the ground in the country in which these things are occurring was incredibly helpful because the times that I was able to message you helped me to decipher and better understand what was true and what was not that was being shared online.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:27

Yeah. Especially when you, there was a

SPEAKER_02 1:01:29

lot of videos of actual bombs going off in front of your town or your home.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:36

Um, yeah. And again, like I remember like people were like, uh, you know, they just, Oh, this was one that I like, I fell into.

UNKNOWN 1:01:48

Um,

SPEAKER_01 1:01:48

you know, there's some rumors that Israel had killed a former Iranian president. I'm going to judge. I can't say his name. I can't. It's too hard. I was like, wow, they're going after like political figures? Like, okay, like military figures? Fine. Like, I mean, military figures are legit targets in a war, right? But then you're going after politicians? And, you know, I know how much we all love politicians right now, but still, like, you don't like targeting a former country's president. Like that's, that's crossing a line in my opinion. Right. Um, and I think international law, but you know, um, and I mean, this thing just spread like wildfire and, you know, again, I sent it to a couple of friends and they were just like, I don't, we don't know if he's alive or dead. And it, it did take two days, uh, to confirm that. No, he did not die or he wasn't even targeted. Um, So, I don't know. It's hard to... Are you real? Or are you AI right now?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:52

I don't know. I might be an AI version of myself. I haven't decided yet. Maybe moving forward, I'll just be AI.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:58

It's so sad

SPEAKER_02 1:02:59

that we even have to think about that and question that, right? We won't know in the next few years. Maybe even now. Maybe even now we don't know. But... I mean, you've shared things with me and I'm like, that's AI. Or I'll see something you'll share and I'm like, that's an AI image. And you're like, what is it? And I'll share something and you'll be like, that's an AI image. But you won't really know until you look into it deeper. And I've been pretty good about it and being able to identify what is AI and what's not. But it's getting more and more difficult as the days go on.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:28

I think it's going to be impossible. I give it a couple of years max.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:32

Yeah, I think we're a lot closer to it than we think.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:35

Yeah, agreed.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:37

returning to humanity and connecting with humans at a very real level in my opinion is going to become more and more important so these are the kind of conversations i appreciate more than anything uh i know you've got a lot going on right now as you're kind of figuring out your next steps and where you're going to be and all the all the above but i appreciate coming on and giving a a high level. I would consider this kind of a high level understanding of the situation, what was felt, what you experienced, what's going on there now, and trying to keep as best as we possibly can our maybe personal political views out of things as best as we possibly can.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:20

Yeah,

SPEAKER_02 1:04:21

yeah. Sometimes you can't. Sometimes you can't. Sometimes it's very difficult.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:26

I mean, I would say respect. I mean, And then the Keanu Reeves rule, you know, someone saying one plus one is five. I'm not going to engage. A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:42

Yeah. I appreciate the time today. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your evening for you. It's getting later. It's probably time for some time. Well, go enjoy happy hour. Thanks again for the talk and the chat. And we will continue to have these conversations and hopefully get you back on at some point in the near future to dive deeper into certain areas that maybe some of the listeners are interested in hearing more about.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:09

Yeah, cool. All right. Look forward to seeing it. All right. Later. Talk soon.