Iranians visiting the city of Van, Turkey, near the Iranian border say how expensive and difficult life back home is. As the U.S. promises to ramp up its economic isolation of Iran, ordinary Iranians are already paying a heavy toll for the ongoing war. Many are heading across the border into Turkey - some for a brief escape, others looking for a way out for good.
NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi is in the Turkish city of Van and brings us this report. HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Twice a week, a train from Tehran brings dozens of Iranian visitors to Van in Eastern Turkey near the Iranian border. AL-SHALCHI: Taxi drivers call out to the Iranian families spilling out onto the platform.
Van is a place where Iranians who can afford it come to take a respite from the war. A 53-year-old commercial manager is in Van to meet a friend from the Netherlands. He says it's become a place for him to escape the tragedy inside Iran.
Like everyone else NPR spoke to, he asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation from the regime. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: A pill, you know? You just have a pill, and there's no more pain for just two, three, four days.
AL-SHALCHI: It's been more than five months since the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran, but the Iranian regime has survived everything the U.S. has thrown at it, and it's willing to drag the war out. President Trump's administration is now vowing to hit the country even harder economically. Iran was already facing severe economic distress.
And here in Van, Iranians say they are paying the price for a protracted war. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Non-English language spoken). AL-SHALCHI: A nursing student steps off the train with a large suitcase and waits for a taxi.
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