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One month of war - Voices from the Turkey-Iran border · INSIGHT TODAY

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: It's Monday afternoon here in the eastern Turkish city of Van.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: The train from Tehran is rolling in, carrying around two
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty passengers. For many on board, this is
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: not an ordinary journey. They are coming from a country
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: at war.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: You.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: Iran is completely shut down. The airports are closed, with
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: the bombing continuously, and it's getting worse. The economy has
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: totally collapsed. There's no gasoline left. The situation is really unbelievable.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: It's a disaster.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Iran's capital has been hit almost daily for the past
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: four weeks. The US and israels say they are targeting
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: military and government sites, but in a city like Tehran
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: with millions of residents, civilians are deeply affected. Very few
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: people here outside the train station in Van are willing
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: to speak to us on or show their faces. The
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: fear of the Iranian authorities runs deep, and many worry
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: about the consequences for themselves or their loved ones back home.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: This student and her family decided to leave Tehran when
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: the bombs came too close and the internet blackout imposed
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: by the authorities made life unbearable.
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: To communicate with my families, with my friends, and Iran
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: there is no connection with Beth and that's too hard
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: because now we are safe, but we are worried about
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: our families, our friends, what happened to them.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: The twenty one year old joined nationwide anti regime protests
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: back in January and witnessed the Islamic Republic responding with
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: a brutal, deadly crackdown.
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: That was the biggest for this I even see in
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: my life.
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: When would you go back?
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: I don't know when the wars and this rigin goes forever.
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: They really tortured they people.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: I have hope this time.
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: Yes, all of the Iran people have hopes for that.
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: Anything we have is hope, nothing more.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: She and her family are on their way to Istanbul,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: where they plan to stay at least for now. We
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: continue towards the Iranian border. It's a nineteen minute drive
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: through snow covered mountains. The Kapaca land border crossing is
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: one of three between Turkey and Iran. The number of
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: people arriving here is not higher than usual, an official
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: tells US Iran's neighbors, including Turkey, have long feared that
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: an attack on the country could destabilize the entire region
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: and trigger a large scale influx of refugees. So far,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: this has not happened despite the ongoing Yours Israeli air strikes.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Yet many who cross carry a deep sense of anxiety.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: Yes, they're threatening to even attack power plants, and we're
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: afraid of that. My family lives in Tehran, so I'm
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: really worried and don't know what to do. No one
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: can leave Iran by ear because the flights have been canceled.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: We only managed to cross the border by land. We
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: want peace, we want stability so we can build a
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: future for ourselves and our children.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: Farncoiny.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: Not everyone feels threatened. Some just come for a few
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: days a brief respite from the war.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: That this bombardment is happening right now is bad, but
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: at the same time, there's a genuine sense of pride
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: among people. We are certain that Iran will win this war,
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: that victory will be ours. We hope truth will triumph
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: of a falsehood Iran over America.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: But there are also those heading in the opposite direction
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: back home into Iran.
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: I've been in Turkey for three months. My family and
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: children are in Iran. Now there's a war, so I'm
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: returning to be with my family. I'm worried about them.
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: My wife is pregnant.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: Back in the city of Van, Iranians have long been
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: a visible presence. Signs are in both Turkish and Persian.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Iranian tourists usually come here to shop and enjoy themselves,
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: away from the watchful eye of the regime, but because
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: of the war, holidaymakers are largely staying away, and locals
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: worry about the broader consequences of the conflict and folding
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: just across the border.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: Whatever happens to our neighbor, we are inevitably affected. Hopefully
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: this war will end as soon as possible, everything will
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: return to normal and the bloodshed will stop.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: We can't do it. Several Iranian ballistic missiles have already
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: approached Turkish airspace and were intercepted by NATO defenses, testing
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Turkish President Duan and his government, who've tried to stay
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: out of the conflict and even offered mediations. But Ankra
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: is also aware of the potential economic fallout of a
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: further escalation. The war in Iran is sending global energy
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: prices soaring, especially for oil and gas, and people here
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: in Turkey too are feeling the pinch in their wallets
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: at the gas stations here, prices have gone up by
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: around twenty percent.
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: The war in Iran has really hurt gas prices. They're
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: way too high. All the materials coming in are expensive
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: because of the fuel. If this keeps up, we'll end
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: up having to shut down our business.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: It's the end of the day and the train that
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: arrived from Tehran earlier is ready to head back. For
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: its passengers, it's a twenty three hour trip full of fear, hope,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: and countless questions of what comes next.