NO way Out

On the morning of February 28, 2026, in a joint attack launched the United States and Israel assassinated Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, alongside some 30 top military commanders – effectively declaring a full-scale war on Iran. In response, Iran launched attacks on U. S. military bases across the region, including in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. In parallel to the targeted high profile assassinations, the United States struck an elementary school compound in the South Iranian town of Minab, which killed 156 civilians, among them 120 schoolchildren. Further strikes on civilian infrastructure, including but not limited to children's gyms, medical centres and residential buildings, caused the death of more than 3, 000, and according to the UN, the displacement of more than 3 Million. The consequences of the war did not end with the bombings. Strikes on steel factories, critical infrastructure, and petrochemical facilities has led to a widespread unemployment and economic destabilisation that challenges Iran to this day. From the first hour of the war, when I rushed to the school of my children to bring them to safety, through to the immediate aftermaths of some of the most severe bombings, to accompanying members of the Iranian Red Crescent on their mission to save lives, I have sought to record the history of my country unfolding in real time. Over the course of the 40 days and nights that it lasted, when the boundaries between home, school, and graveyard repeatedly collapsed – I documented what I was able to. As a professional, I had to bear witness to the toll the Iranian people have paid during the war. As an ordinary citizen caught by the war, I had no way out