Eyewitnesses are reporting explosions and heavy air defense activity in several areas of Tehran including Qasr-e Firoozeh, Seyed Khandan, and the west of the capital, amid suspected drone engagements.
Witnesses reported explosions and military activity in several Iranian cities early Thursday, including Karaj, Ahvaz and Shiraz.
In Alborz province, west of Tehran, residents in Karaj said three projectiles were seen over the Azimiyeh district before an explosion was heard at dawn. Additional blasts were reported in Mehrshahr at 2:28 a.m. and later in the Mehrshahr and Mohammadshahr areas around 3:45 a.m.
In Ahvaz, the main city in the oil-rich southwestern province of Khuzestan, two relatively strong explosions were heard at 3:11 a.m. and 3:13 a.m., according to witness accounts.
In Mahabad, in West Azarbaijan province in northwestern Iran, residents reported the sound of an aircraft or fighter jet passing overhead at around 4:30 a.m.
In Shiraz, the capital of Fars province in southern Iran, witnesses said several consecutive explosions were heard at around 4:40 a.m.
A temporary ceasefire between the United States and Iran has triggered anger and cautious hope among Iranians who sent messages to Iran International, with many describing a sense of abandonment by President Donald Trump.
The two-week ceasefire was announced after weeks of fighting that began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran while negotiations were still underway.
President Trump said on Wednesday that Washington would work closely with Iran following what he described as a “productive regime change,” adding there would be no uranium enrichment.
But messages from across Iran suggested the pause in fighting has stirred mixed and often painful reactions. Some described the truce as a missed opportunity for political change.
“We asked you for help to free Iran, but not only did you not free it, you handed us a much worse country and trampled the blood of 45,000 martyrs,” one citizen wrote in a message addressed to Trump, referring to protesters killed during past nationwide unrest.
Others expressed deep despair about the country’s future.
“When I heard the news of the ceasefire, it felt like the world collapsed on my head,” a resident of Tehran said.
“We were miserable and now we will become more miserable. We no longer have any hope,” another message said.
Despite the truce, a weeks-long internet blackout across Iran has persisted, limiting communication and access to outside information.
Some urged patience, however, suggesting the ceasefire could be part of a broader strategy.
“Trump knows what he is doing. If he intended to accept the conditions, he would not have entered the war at all. Perhaps more surprises will occur in the coming days,” one citizen wrote.
Another message called on Iranians not to lose hope.
“Do not be so hopeless. Regime change is possible. This ceasefire may be another surprise. You have the right to be tired, but you must remain patient,” a citizen from Kerman wrote in a message addressed to fellow Iranians.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday that US and Iranian delegations would arrive in Pakistan on Friday for talks, raising the prospect that the ceasefire could open the way for negotiations.
Some also warned that the pause in fighting could allow the authorities to intensify domestic repression.
“With this ceasefire, the killing machine will be activated faster and more young people will be at risk,” one message said.
Iran has carried out executions during the war, raising fears among activists that the authorities may use the ceasefire period to tighten control.
Others reflected on the uncertainty surrounding the fragile truce.
“I feel like a patient whose surgeon, in the middle of surgery, says let us wait a bit and see if it heals on its own,” one citizen wrote.
A wave of overnight strikes appeared to sweep across Iran early on Tuesday, based on witness accounts sent to Iran International, hitting areas from the capital’s outskirts to southern coastal regions.
In the greater Tehran area, multiple residential locations were reportedly struck within minutes of each other. Explosions were heard around 3:00 a.m. in Karaj, a city west of Tehran, while nearby Shahriar, on the capital’s western edge, saw blasts at residential buildings. Further east of Tehran, in Pardis, explosions were reported in two different parts of the town.
Along Iran’s southern coast, activity appeared to focus on strategic and military-linked areas. In Jask, a port in Hormozgan province near the Strait of Hormuz, witnesses reported a drone strike near a naval zone alongside air defense fire. In Chabahar, a key southeastern port on the Gulf of Oman, explosions were heard near Shahid Kalantari port, Tis port, and the Imam Ali base. Earlier, three missiles were reportedly launched from Jam in Bushehr province, a hub near major energy facilities.
Further inland, central and southern cities also reported attacks. Yazd, in central Iran, was hit by several strikes around dawn. In Ahvaz, the main city of the oil-rich Khuzestan province in the southwest, residents reported repeated fighter jet activity overhead. In Fars province, missiles were launched from a Revolutionary Guards air base in Larestan.
The strikes continued into daylight hours with two consecutive explosions heard in Shiraz, the provincial capital of Fars in southern Iran.
Powerful explosions were heard from a military site in northern Iran and an attack was reported in the southwestern city of Khorramshahr early on Monday, according to eyewitness accounts sent to Iran International.
Seven large blasts were heard at about 4:45 a.m. at the Fath military base, a helicopter production site between Malard and Meshkin Dasht in Alborz province.
Khorramshahr in Khuzestan province also came under attack on Monday morning, eyewitnesses said.
Reports late on Saturday and early on Sunday described explosions and warplane overflights across several Iranian provinces, including Isfahan, Alborz, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Fars, Bushehr, Gilan, Mazandaran and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.
In Isfahan province, including Isfahan city, Baharestan, Najafabad, Fooladshahr, Mobarakeh and Lenjan, residents reported repeated explosions and shaking buildings, especially in southern parts of the city. Some messages spoke of more than 10 successive blasts.
In Alborz province, four explosions were reported in the Sohailieh area of Karaj. In Hormozgan province, residents in Bandar Lengeh and Kish reported warplane overflights and explosions.
In Khuzestan province, Mahshahr saw three early-morning explosions, while reports from Andimeshk said vehicles carrying equipment had gathered there.
Other reports described a missile launch in Shiraz, warplane overflights in Kangan in Bushehr province, an explosion in Deylaman in Gilan, a missile sighting in Shirgah in Mazandaran, and reported operations around Basht in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.
In Tehran, some northern and northeastern areas reported hearing distant explosions.
