Tehran resident says he hopes US-Israeli campaign topples regime, in message during brief window of connectivity

Internet access in Iran is almost entirely shut down, meaning residents use brief windows of connectivity to send messages to the outside world.

A 23-year-old in Tehran tells The Associated Press that he hopes US and Israeli strikes topple the Islamic Republic.

“It has to fall or they will take their revenge on us,” he writes. He says that in January, he joined anti-government protests in which security forces shot thousands of demonstrators and arrested tens of thousands more.

Another resident in the capital’s Velenjak neighborhood tells the AP that “conditions in Tehran are falling apart fast” under the air campaign. As she speaks, ambulance sirens wail and pro-government slogans blare from nearby mosque loudspeakers.

“The possibility of moving around isn’t as much as before,” she says, adding: “I hope whatever is good for Iran, happens.”