RAZI, Iran (AP) — On a 12-hour drive across Iran, Associated Press reporters saw a religious center damaged by an airstrike and billboards vowing revenge against America and Israel. But for most of the trip, they saw quieter scenes of daily life unfolding against a backdrop of war and anxiety.
They saw families having a quiet breakfast at a truck stop. In a mountain tunnel, they saw a cargo truck with a Nike logo across the back. A restaurant played R.E.M.’s “Losing my religion” as customers, including women not wearing the mandatory headscarf, enjoyed grilled meats and saffron drinks.
Five weeks of heavy American and Israeli airstrikes have caused extensive destruction, particularly in Tehran, the capital, where they saw the rubble of government buildings and police stations.
But on the long drive in from the Turkish border there were few outward signs of the conflict that has rippled across the Middle East and jolted the world economy.
The Associated Press has been granted permission by the Iranian government to send an additional team into the country for a brief reporting trip. AP already operates in Iran. The visiting team must be accompanied by a media assistant from a government-affiliated company. AP retains full editorial control of its content.
At the border crossing, there were large portraits of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the war’s first day, adorned with fiery slogans. Just beyond, a shepherd guided his sheep along the roadside, with snow-capped mountains rising in the distance beneath gray skies.
Six hours into the journey, they caught the first sight of the war in the city of Zanjan. A religious community center, known as a husseiniyah, had been hit by an Israeli airstrike days earlier. Iranian officials said it destroyed a clinic and a library, killing two civilians. The Israeli military said it hit a military headquarters.
Just outside the complex, and in every city and town on the road to Tehran, things seemed pretty normal. Shops were open. Traffic backed up at rush hour.
There were more Khamenei billboards on the approach to Tehran. Entering the city after midnight, they drove through empty streets, past bombed-out government buildings and checkpoints manned by the Revolutionary Guard and the Basij, bulwarks of the Islamic Republic who have been repeatedly targeted.
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This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.
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Associated Press reporter Sam Metz in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed.