More than 3 million Iranians have been displaced by the ongoing US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic, according to the main UN refugee agency. Ayaki Ito, director of the Division of Emergency and Program Support at the UN refugee agency, has described that the US-Israeli attack has already triggered mass internal displacement across Iran.
"Between 600,000 and 1 million Iranian households are now temporarily displaced inside Iran as a result of the ongoing conflict, according to preliminary assessments, representing up to 3.2 million people," Ito said.
The dark and twisted irony in all of this is that Washington and Tel Aviv have claimed they want to "help" the Iranian people go "free"... by bombing them and destroying their civic infrastructure, apparently.
Most of those fleeing are leaving Tehran and other major cities as the air war intensifies and the crisis accelerates.
Though there were Friday scenes of large crowds of Iranian in Tehran streets and city squares defiantly protesting the US attacks - even as bombs fell around them - most Iranians are likely trying a way to flee to the countryside, or stay away from big cities in the homes of relatives.
The number of forcibly displaced people "is likely to continue rising as hostilities persist, marking a worrying escalation in humanitarian needs," the UN official added.
Iran also currently plays host to the largest population of refugees from Afghanistan (with Pakistan also hosting a huge number), in the millions of people. The war in Iran is said to be hitting Afghans hard, as resources must be rushed elsewhere as the bombs fall.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the US-Israeli bombing campaign continues to climb. The official death count is approaching 1500 people, including 165 children killed in a reportedly US double-tap strike on a girls' school.
The conflict is also fueling a parallel refugee crisis across the region, which could also potentially impact some Gulf regions. For example, Bahrain is experiencing some degree of destabilization as its huge Shia population rises up against the Sunni monarchy, and clashes with police have ensued.
In Lebanon, relentless Israeli strikes have displaced almost 15% of the country’s population, more than 800,000 people, monitors have said.
Mass evacuation orders issued by Israel now cover all of southern Lebanon and large sections of the capital, Beirut, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee as the war spreads across the Middle East.