‘Everyone Is Scared’: Iranians Head to Armenia to Escape Conflict with Israel

He described the situation in Tehran as “very bad”.

“People who have somewhere to go, they are leaving. Every night is like attacking, people cannot sleep, because of the sounds of explosions, the situation is not good at all,” he said.

A young woman with white headscarf and thick fake lashes said she was heading back to her country of residence, Australia.

“I saw something that is very hard, I don’t want to talk about it,” she said as she boarded a car with several others for the onward journey to the Armenian capital Yerevan.

“Someone comes and attacks your country, would you feel normal?”

Some Israeli ministers have talked up the possibility that the conflict could lead to regime collapse in Iran.

But Javad — who had been visiting the north-eastern city of Sabzevar for the summer holidays and was heading back to Germany — said he thought this was unlikely.

“Israel has no chance. Israel is not a friend for us, it’s an enemy,” he said. “Israel cannot come to our home to help us. Israel needs to change something for itself not for us.”

Some Iranians at the border however were crossing were travelling in the other direction. The previous evening, Ali Ansaye, who had been holidaying in Armenia with his family, was heading back to Tehran.

“I have no concerns, and I am not scared at all. If I am supposed to die, I will die in my country,” he said.

He said Israel was “harassing the entire world – Gaza, Lebanon and other countries”.

“How can such a small country have nuclear weapons?” he asked. “Based on which law can this country have a bomb, and Iran, which has only focused on peaceful nuclear energy and not a bomb, cannot?”

Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons, although it neither confirms nor denies this.