Chapter 1: War Comes to Northern Tehran

The 2026 war brought a new reality to Tehran—one defined by unpredictability, fear, and resilience.

Strikes hit infrastructure, military installations, and occasionally civilian areas. Even parks were not immune; in one widely reported incident, a park elsewhere in the city was bombed after being misidentified as a security facility .

Tehran itself experienced repeated attacks, blackouts, and environmental hazards, including toxic smoke clouds after oil facilities were struck .

Saadat Abad, once considered relatively insulated due to its residential nature, was no longer untouched. Nearby military and paramilitary sites made the district strategically relevant.

For the youth, this meant one thing:

There was no true escape.