April 21, 2026
The officer in Iran’s riot police force said that since U.S.-Israeli airstrikes began on February 28, his phone number had changed six times and that each week a new superior would arrive and then vanish.
“They go elsewhere and new people come in,” he said. “And all the commanders keep changing their houses.”
Many of his fellow officers had been killed in the bombardments, he said, and a soldier he knew had his legs blown off when his barracks were bombed.
“We are all broken,” he said. “To be honest, we’re all angry, and what’s more, we’re afraid to stay in our posts. We’re more spread out now in public places such as hospitals or malls. Hardly anyone remains on military bases anymore — no more than one or two people.”
It was mid-April, days after a fragile ceasefire had taken effect.
I had first begun corresponding with the officer, a member of the Kurdish minority in western Iran, in early January. He had agreed to answer questions from me, but only through written hand-delivered messages — and only on condition of anonymity, out of fear of the regime’s retaliation.