The Islamic regime is trying to silence critics as fighting engulfs its country, but these people found a way to get their voices heard.
Plumes of smoke from relentless bombing have become part of Tehran's skyline.
Iran's capital city is usually bustling: home to 10 million people, its known for its buzzing bazaars and late-night cafe culture.
But one week after the United States and Israel launched wide-ranging aerial attacks, everything has changed.
The neighbourhoods are eerily quiet. A lot of shops are shuttered. Many people have fled.
Over the past seven days, this war has widened to engulf much of the Middle East, and the main belligerents have all pledged to continue it for weeks, or months, if necessary.
While Iran's strict Shia Islamist regime has blocked the internet and other forms of communication for much of the population, the ABC has spoken to multiple people who have broken through the blackout, as well as other stakeholders in the region.
One supports the regime, many are critical of it. Some names have been changed to protect the identities of the people speaking.
These are their accounts of the past week, and what they think the fighting could mean for Iran's future.
PARISA (18-year-old in Tehran): The situation here is extremely tense and frightening, especially in Tehran. We are hearing explosions, missiles and drones sometimes every half an hour. Many people are scared and don't feel safe in their homes.
ARASH (24-year-old in Tehran): Families are trying to protect their children and stay indoors as much as possible. The atmosphere in the city is heavy with fear and uncertainty. Many people feel that they are trapped in the middle of a dangerous conflict that is getting bigger every day. We are so worried about what might happen next.
SAMAN (man in eastern Tehran): The capital is almost dead. Most shops and shopping centres?are closed and the drug stores and bakeries that are open work only a few hours during the day. Cash is also very scarce. ATMs do not have cash.
Death toll climbs amid communication blackout
Getting a clear picture of how ordinary Iranians are coping with war is difficult.
Those who speak out risk arrest, even execution, while rolling internet blackouts allow authorities to further control the flow of information.
Human rights groups say the regime-imposed communications crackdown is compounding an already perilous situation, leaving civilians increasingly exposed as the war intensifies.
The death toll in the country since the war began has climbed past 1,000, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.
That includes a group of more than 160 people, most of them young girls, who Iranian state media said were killed at a primary school that was bombed on the first day of fighting.
Iran's government supplied this picture to foreign journalists. It shows rows of graves the regime says were being dug to bury those killed in the attack, which took place in the city of Minab.
While independent reporting is banned in the country, analysts point out officials have few reasons to exaggerate the death toll from the war.
They say doing so is at odds with the narrative espoused by Iran's military and other authorities that they have the upper hand in the fighting, and are capable of defeating Israel and the US.
Iran's absence of an early warning system, which would notify residents about incoming attacks, has also been in the spotlight this week.
In Israel, and many Gulf countries, people in areas that are at risk of missile and drone strikes are alerted when their smartphones light up with government notifications.
That's not the case in Iran, though. The country also lacks other critical protective infrastructure, like bomb shelters and the sophisticated air-defence systems many of its neighbours and enemies possess.
ARINA MORADI (Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights): The government has so far not issued any serious warnings [about attacks]. It seems there has been no preparation and no strategy to protect civilians. People are very isolated they don't know how to protect themselves. It's almost impossible for people [to shelter from air strikes] because there are no shelters. We are worried that the government doesn't really care at all about the situation of its civilians.
SKYLAR THOMPSON (deputy director of Human Rights Activists in Iran organisation): There's absolutely no indication that Iran is taking steps to protect their own civilian population. One of the things we look for in times of conflict is warnings. But in Iran, where you have a regime that has decided to cut the population off from the internet, from communicating with their family and friends, they're not able to communicate these types of warnings if they should occur. And we've not seen any of those warnings. But people need to be connected in order to be safe. And that's not the case right now.
PARISA (18-year-old in Tehran): Daily life is not normal anymore. The internet in Iran has been completely shut down and we have almost no communication with the outside world. The internet shutdown has made everything even harder because people cannot communicate with each other or show the world what is really happening here. Many people are anxious.
Plea to 'take over government' could be a long shot
Hours after the first attacks on Iran, US President Donald Trump said he wanted to see regime change in Iran.
Trump is hoping US and Israeli air strikes can weaken the regime in Tehran sufficiently for people who oppose it to "take over the government".
But analysts have warned that strategy could backfire.
The regime appears to have increased its security presence in public areas, after some Iranians celebrated the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the first hours of the war.
Iran's government has been keen to highlight large public displays of mourning for the supreme leader.
In this case, the crowds taking to the streets are in support of the country's regime, not against it.
One week into the war, some of those who oppose Iran's strict Islamic theocratic rulers say they are too scared to go outside.
The ABC has seen text messages sent by the regime to Iranians warning people who protest publicly will be dealt with like "Israeli soldiers".
Meanwhile, pro-regime supporters say the war has strengthened support for the Islamic Revolution.
SAMAN (man in eastern Tehran): We hope the bombings will be over soon so people can come to the streets and take over the situation.
YASNA (girl in city of Kerman): The only one who is to blame for this war is Ali?Khameni?and if that leads to the destruction of this regime, I am OK with it. If I die, I am OK with it.
FOAD IZADI (pro-regime university professor in Tehran): [The collapse of the regime] is a pipe dream. Trump has unified Iranians more than any Iranian politician could ever do. After people open their Ramadan fast, they go to the streets at night demonstrating. Anywhere in Tehran, if you open your window, you will hear at night people chanting death to Trump and death to Netanyahu. They [the US] were asking Iranians to come in millions to the streets, and they're doing that, but they are opposing Trump and Netanyahu.
Schools and world heritage site among targets
The US and Israel say they are attacking military and political sites in a bid to weaken the Islamic regime.
The US military said this week it had hit more than 1,700 targets in Iran.
But hospitals, schools, a sports stadium and the UNESCO world heritage listed Golestan Palace in Tehran — which includes several buildings that date to the 1800s — have reportedly been damaged.
The strike at the girls' school in Minab has sparked an outcry from human rights organisations, and has been highlighted by Iran's regime as an example of Western and Israeli brutality.
The White House says the US is investigating the incident.
Not all the places being targeted are physical, however. Some claim the negotiations that could have avoided the war have been blown up too.
ARINA MORADI (Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights): Israel are targeting military bases and unfortunately most of these bases are inside towns and cities and very close to populated areas, so we are expecting the number of casualties to rise.
ARASH (man in Tehran): The internet blackout has left people unaware of where the attacks have targeted. Last night, everyone, from the intensity of the explosions, thought their own street had been hit. Many people here are simply hoping the attacks will stop and that civilians will not continue to suffer.
FOAD IZADI (pro-regime university professor in Tehran): [America's negotiations] were a deception operation. The US attacked Iran in June, calling the operation the "Midnight Hammer", but they took the hammer and smashed the negotiation table. Iran was generous enough to provide them with another negotiating table, but they bombed the second one. I think Iranians have run out of negotiating tables to give them. It would be foolish for any Iranian politician to fall for that scheme again.
