Persian → English transcript

Mr. Ābādat, tell us about Tehran.

Tehran… honestly, I’m surprised, my job…

I’m going all over Tehran all the time.

Would you like to tell us about your job?

When should I tell you?

My job is taxi driver.

What are you seeing in the city these days compared to two months ago?

A lot of things.

Go ahead.

A bit about the mood of the city.

These days you go all over the city, up and down.

The city… honestly, some of the people are

sad,

some of them are happy.

Who are the sad ones? Who are the happy ones?

It’s obvious, that poor person who, you know,

has jobs that are connected to the internet,

right now all their business,

are the streets crowded, or…

Compared to, say, last year too, the situation is messed up.

No way, we ourselves right now, like,

we’re just wandering around for no reason.

Tell us about the destruction.

Because very few images are reaching us.

Has it become very bombed out?

As for the destruction, I…

Yes, I mostly go through the highways.

Babayi Highway, Fourth Square,

I mostly see everywhere a missile has hit.

I went to Eshdehrah on Friday.

Visiting the graves of the deceased

I went to visit my late aunt’s grave

It was actually in section 301

My late aunt died ten to fifteen years ago

It was section 301

I saw that actually access to these sections

which are supposed to belong to these so-called “Eternal Names” graves

was right next to it

They had closed it, they would not let anyone go in at all

For God’s sake, what kind of situation is this?

If supposedly Israel or America has attacked

you still will not let people go visit their loved ones’ graves

Are the inspections and such going on in different parts of the city?

Yes, they are going on everywhere

And how many of them are at the inspection posts?

Has it become fewer than before or more?

It is the same number as before

I do not think it is a thing

I even talked with one or two of them

I told them, I said, “Come on, for God’s sake”

“He comes and hits from the sky

what are you looking for down here on the ground?”

What did they say?

Answers and arguing and back and forth

I told them, “I love my country more than you do”

It is in my blood and, as one poor guy used to say

“In the year fifty-and-something, may God bless him”

“he was wounded in Abadan”

In the years sixty to sixty-one, my poor wet nurse was in Khorramshahr

The day before

Khorramshahr was liberated, she was martyred

You will not find anything in my pocket

and I will not let you search

Do whatever you like

and leave a coward alone, man, let him go

Honestly, I do not know what I should say about this issue

But well, that is that

If it is to become a friendship, let us just call it that