More than a week has passed since the second wave of US airstrikes targeted Iran’s southern provinces. The scope of the bombardment has gradually expanded to other regions; since Friday evening, July 17, airstrikes have hit provinces such as Yazd, Fars, Semnan, and Lorestan, alongside the southern coastal strip.
In wartime, society becomes heavily militarized and patriarchal, leaving women’s voices even more marginalized than usual. Accounts shared with IranWire show that the situation for women in this crisis, as in any other, is becoming increasingly dire. This report presents several of these first-hand accounts.
Zahra from Sun-Scorched Mahshahr, Khuzestan
The temperature has surpassed 50°C (122°F), with oppressive heat bearing down from every direction. On this summer night, the power has gone out in the small workers’ housing unit where 43-year-old Zahra lives with her two young children. Zahra’s life was upended after her husband lost his job during the April bombing of the Fajr Petrochemical Complex:
“The unit where my husband worked was destroyed,” Zahra says. “He was stuck at home for a long time. Recently, they told him he could return to work in another section, but his salary has been cut in half, and there is no guarantee of how long his contract will be extended.”
