MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Explosions continue to sound across Iran's capital, Tehran, this morning, with parts of the city covered in thick, black smoke from the attacks. As NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports, fears are also mounting for the safety of thousands of detainees held in a notorious regime prison there. And here's a warning - you are going to hear gunfire in this story.
RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE: From Tehran, Shadi describes her life caught in the anatomy of this war.
SHADI: (Speaking Farsi).
SHERLOCK: Her mother has breast cancer, so Shadi went with her to her chemotherapy appointment.
SHADI: (Speaking Farsi).
SHERLOCK: They found a hospital operating with what seemed like half the staff. And on the way, they passed government buildings, military bases and centers for Iran's Revolutionary Guards, shattered by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes - a debris of mangled metal, concrete and broken glass.
SHADI: (Through interpreter) And despite all the anxiety now - my 7-year-old niece waking up in the middle of the night in fear, the paralysis of my and my husband's work and life, the waiting in lines for gas and bread - you know what I'm thinking? If we try to take over even one of these bases of these criminals ourselves, as Iranians, and take the weapons they kill us with, how many of us would die trying to do this? Two thousand? Three thousand? And what if we wanted to take them all? Half a million?
SHERLOCK: Shadi speaks with NPR without giving her last name, to protect herself from the regime that arrests those who speak out against it. Government forces have set up checkpoints on some streets. A video shared online shows some people shouting support for the offensive from apartment windows and gunshots being fired in their direction in response.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUNFIRE)
SHERLOCK: As the war continues, there are fears for the fate of the tens of thousands of Iranians held in prisons.
SHAILIN ASADOLLAHI: Let me explain in Farsi, OK? (Speaking Farsi).
SHERLOCK: Shailin Asadollahi says her brother, Ali Asadollahi, was detained about a month ago from his home and taken to Evin - a prison in Tehran notorious for its brutal and inhumane treatment of inmates. Asadollahi is an internationally recognized poet, and over a hundred authors, including Margaret Atwood, have penned a joint letter calling for his release.
ASADOLLAHI: (Speaking Farsi).
SHERLOCK: Shailin says her brother's writings give wings to imagination, inspiring the freedom of expression that many artists and writers have been jailed for in Iran.
ASADOLLAHI: (Speaking Farsi).
SHERLOCK: Shailin, who lives in exile in Germany, says Asadollahi was due to be released on bail the day the U.S. and Israeli bombardments began, but they haven't heard from him since. She's been told that he and other prisoners have been moved...
ASADOLLAHI: (Speaking Farsi).
SHERLOCK: ...Relocated to an intelligence complex and then an army base - all places that are likely targets of these strikes. Evin prison itself is now unsafe, too. Israeli warplanes in June struck the complex, killing at least 80 people, according to Human Rights Watch. And this time, Israel has issued evacuation orders in the area. I ask Shailin how she feels about this offensive against the regime.
ASADOLLAHI: If you want to talk about the feeling, it's really hard for me to explain that because it's complicated situation for me and the people who has - person in a prison. But, by the way (ph) (speaking Farsi).
SHERLOCK: "On the one hand, you've been living with this systematic group of criminals for 47 years," she says, referring to the regime. "And on the other hand, there's bombardment." For now, she's focused on raising the profile of her brother's case, doing all she can to help him and other detainees stay alive in this war.
Ruth Sherlock, NPR News in Turkey, close to the border with Iran.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
