‘We were just praying’: Pakistani students recount escape from war-hit Iran
Al Jazeera
Iran hosts some 3,000 Pakistani students, who stare at an uncertain future after the US and Israel bomb the country and force them to flee.
Islamabad, Pakistan – It was the first working day of the week and Muhammad Raza, a 23-year-old Pakistani medical student, was assisting the doctors treating patients at Tehran University of Medical Sciences hospital in the Iranian capital.
A loud explosion brought the ward to a halt. Israel and the United States had began bombing Iran in a joint operation on the morning of February 28.
“We had been hearing about an imminent attack, and when it did strike, it sent a surge of anxiety and panic through my body,” Raza told Al Jazeera from inside a bus on his way to Islamabad on Tuesday.
As chaos and fear gripped Tehran following the bombings, Raza rushed to his hostel near the hospital compound and immediately called the Pakistani embassy, less than 2km (1.2 miles) away.
The mission instructed him and other students to gather with essential belongings by the evening before arrangements could be made to send them home.
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