SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Tomorrow marks one full month of the war in Iran with no signs of a ceasefire. Today, there were fresh waves of attacks on Iran, Israel, Gulf States and Lebanon. Israel's defense minister vowed to intensify strikes against Iran, while Iran's ambassador to the United Nations accused the U.S. and Israel of deliberately targeting civilians. And citing unsubstantiated progress in talks, President Trump once again extended his deadline for Iran to open up the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping channel. He had threatened, quote, "total destruction" of Iran's energy facilities if ships are not allowed to pass. Oil prices in the meantime continue to rise.
We turn now to four of our correspondents who have been talking to those living through this first month of war across the region. We'll hear from weary Iranians, fearful Israelis, residents of a shaken Gulf safe haven, and Lebanese citizens enduring massive displacement. First, we will go to NPR's Emily Feng at Turkey's border with Iran.
EMILY FENG, BYLINE: I'm waiting for a train to arrive here in Turkey. It departed from Tehran more than 24 hours ago.
(SOUNDBITE OF ENGINE HUMMING)
FENG: A group of four Iranian women get off. They're giddy from a long journey and relieved to be in Turkey.
(LAUGHTER)
FENG: They're university students, and like many Iranians, all they can talk about is the war. They didn't want to give us their names because speaking to a foreign journalist has been criminalized in Iran, and they will be going back. One of them says the bombings have mostly hit military targets, but not always.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #1: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: "I was eating lunch one afternoon when bombing began," she says. "The windows shattered. Everyone ran." Twelve strikes hit near her home that day, she says, killing 22 civilians. "The war should never have started," she says, "but now that it has, the U.S. and Israel should finish it" - meaning toppling Iran's regime.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #1: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: "We have lost all that we could lose already," she says. Yet she fears Iran could be reduced to being a colony of the U.S. Her friend interjects.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #2: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: "Do you really think we have not already been a colony occupied by the Islamic republic?" she asks. She remembers all her friends killed by the regime during the anti-government protests this past January.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #2: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: "The regime," she says, "pretends as if none of these deaths happen." And she echoes her friend, "it's better to end things once and for all." We're close friends, but we argue, the two women say - a window into the bitter arguments Iranians in and outside of the country are having about the war. Emily Feng, NPR News, Van, Turkey.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: And I'm Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv, where this air raid siren...
(SOUNDBITE OF AIR RAID SIREN)
ESTRIN: ...Has gone off more than 100 times in the past month, multiple times a day and in the middle of the night.
(CROSSTALK)
ESTRIN: Window panes shattered into the streets a few days ago when an Iranian missile hit an upscale residential area in this city on the Mediterranean coast.
(CROSSTALK)
ESTRIN: There's a crater in the middle of the road where the missile fell. The facade of an apartment building next to it has been badly damaged. You can see right into the damaged homes. Window panes of other buildings have been shattered. Cars have been crushed. Israeli police estimate the Iranian missile contained a warhead with about 220 pounds of explosives.
MIKHAIL MORGENBESSER: It's literally a Russian roulette. I think quite worse, we can call it Iranian roulette.
ESTRIN: Mikhail Morgenbesser (ph) says she lives with the fear of not knowing if you're next to be struck. She lives a few blocks away from where the missile fell.
MORGENBESSER: First of all, it can fall anywhere, and I think that worse than that, we don't know how long it's going to take until - I mean, we're - what? - a month into this? We don't even have a clue when it will end. It's not normal. It's not a way to live.
ESTRIN: The new normal has not cost any political support to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A new poll shows he has not lost supporters since he and President Trump launched the war. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: And I'm Aya Batrawy in Dubai. The United Arab Emirates has been targeted with more than 2,000 Iranian drones and missiles during the war. That's the most in the Gulf and even more than Israel. The UAE's air defenses, which include U.S.- and Israeli-made systems, have intercepted the vast majority of these attacks. But Dubai's reputation as a safe haven has taken a beating. Dubai's popular marina promenade would normally be teeming with tourists and expats who live here, but it's quiet and unusually calm. It's where I meet George Aid (ph), a Lebanese who says he's lived in Dubai for 20 years and is raising his kids here. He's got no plans to leave.
GEORGE AID: I feel very protected, given that the leadership here have the right vision. We live in a place which is very tolerant for every other religion, every other person, and I think Dubai will only become stronger.
BATRAWY: But authorities in the UAE have actually been cracking down on people posting videos about the war in private chat channels and online. They say posts that are inaccurate create a security risk. Police in Abu Dhabi say they've arrested more than 100 people for sharing videos.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WE LOVE DUBAI")
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) Say it with your heart. We stand...
BATRAWY: This is the message Dubai wants the world to hear.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WE LOVE DUBAI")
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) We love Dubai. Dubai was safe. Dubai is safe. Dubai will always stay...
BATRAWY: A safe haven, they say, for everyone. Aya Batrawy, NPR News, Dubai.
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: And I'm Lauren Frayer in the Sports City Stadium in southern Beirut. I'm climbing down the bleachers. And what should be the refreshment area underneath the stands here are rows and rows of thousands of tents.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
FRAYER: This is just a fraction of the more than 1.2 million people displaced by Israeli attacks across this country.
ISMAEL FARAH: (Non-English language spoken).
FRAYER: "Air strikes hit left and right of our house, killing the family next door," says Ismael Farah (ph), who says the street was burning as he fled with his family.
ZANE ASSAD: (Non-English language spoken).
FARAH: (Non-English language spoken).
ASSAD: (Non-English language spoken).
FRAYER: "It's humiliating to live in a tent," his wife, Zane Assad (ph) says.
FARAH: (Non-English language spoken).
FRAYER: "War is humiliation," her husband interjects. "We're from a proud, ancient Mediterranean city, Tyre. We stood up to Alexander the Great," he says. Israel says Iran-backed Hezbollah militants are there now. To oust them, Israeli officials say they'll take part of this country's south.
(CROSSTALK)
FRAYER: And as I leave this family, they're talking about geopolitics, tracking the advancing Israeli troops on their phones. The charity workers here are installing more toilets, trying to get hot showers as people hunker down. They're not sure when they'll be able to go home. Lauren Frayer, NPR News in the Sports City Stadium in southern Beirut.
(SOUNDBITE OF BALTHVS' "JOHANNA'S DREAM") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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