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\t A religious center damaged by an airstrike<\/p>\n The first major sign of the war\u2019s destruction came in the northwestern city of Zanjan, about six hours\u2019 drive from the border.<\/p>\n Iranian officials say an airstrike hit a religious community center, known as a husseiniyah, killing two people and destroying a clinic and a library. Other parts of the compound, some of which is centuries old, suffered damage, including its golden dome.<\/p>\n When asked about the strike, the Israeli military said it had hit \u201ca military headquarters,\u201d and that it tries to avoid harming civilian facilities, without elaborating.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has hurt me a lot and distressed me a lot,\u201d said Somayeh Shojaei, a local resident who has attended religious and cultural events at the center. \u201cWith these airstrikes, [the US and Israel] are showing their malicious intent to the whole world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \t The strike killed the library\u2019s caretaker and a volunteer with the Iranian Red Crescent first responders, according to Jaafar Mohammadi, the provincial director of cultural and Islamic guidance.<\/p>\n He said poor people had received free treatment at the clinic and students had made use of the library that housed more than 35,000 books, including antique manuscripts.<\/p>\n He said he did not know why the complex was targeted.<\/p>\n \u201cIran wanted to negotiate for peace with [US President Donald] Trump, but Trump responded with war,\u201d Mohammadi said. \u201cHe started the war, but we will definitely be the victorious side.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Life goes on in much of Iran despite fear and uncertainty<\/p>\n The US and Israel have carried out thousands of strikes across the country, and Trump has threatened to bomb Iran \u201c back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.\u201d Over the weekend, he reiterated a Tuesday deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for oil and gas.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s surviving leaders have remained defiant and in control, rejecting what they say are unreasonable US peace proposals. Israel has given no indication it plans to let up on its strikes, and has called on Iranians to overthrow their leaders.<\/p>\n Even as the war generates global turmoil \u2014 and fear and anxiety within Iran \u2014 daily life goes on.<\/p>\n \t In city after city on the road to Tehran, AP reporters saw normal traffic, businesses open and people walking the streets. A restaurant served Iranian delicacies like grilled lamb and rice, barley soup and saffron drinks as R.E.M.\u2019s \u201cLosing My Religion\u201d played on loudspeakers.<\/p>\n Many women could be seen going about their day without wearing the theocracy\u2019s mandatory head covering, the enforcement of which\u00a0has eased in recent years.<\/p>\n The team passed through two checkpoints on the approach to Tehran without being stopped.<\/p>\n \t Destroyed government buildings and police stations in Tehran<\/p>\n The city was eerily quiet after midnight. There had been heavy airstrikes on the mountains overlooking the capital the previous night.<\/p>\n Tehran is on the front lines, having seen wave after wave of strikes that the US and Israel say are aimed at the military and internal security forces. Authorities in Iran say over 1,900 people have been killed. It\u2019s unclear how many were soldiers or civilians.<\/p>\n The AP reporters saw several government buildings and police stations that had been destroyed. They passed a number of checkpoints operated by plainclothes Basij, an internal security force, and uniformed members of the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.<\/p>\n \t They were stopped once and asked to open the car and show press cards before being waved onward.<\/p>\n Fuel is heavily subsidized, such that a gallon of gasoline costs around 15 US cents. But people are only allowed to purchase around 5 gallons at a time. There were no signs of gas lines.<\/p>\n Back in Zanjan, Mohamoud Maasoumi, a retired soldier, said the conflict with the US \u2014 \u201cthe world\u2019s arrogance\u201d \u2014 goes back to a 1953 CIA-backed coup that is seared into the minds of many Iranians. He expressed hope that Iran\u2019s leaders would defend the country.<\/p>\n \u201cThe enemy sees that we are not ever succumbing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tTravelers approach on foot the border crossing with Turkey in Razi, Iran, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Francisco Seco)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26094698118393-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tPedestrians walk by a destroyed building within the Grand Hosseiniyeh, with the mosque visible in the background, which officials at the site say was hit by US-Israeli airstrikes in Zanjan, Iran, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Francisco Seco)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26095390388236-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tA cafe attendant sits at the counter as two men sit at a cafe in downtown Tehran, Iran, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26096342279124-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tA man sits beside an Iranian flag banner during a government-sponsored protest against the US-Israeli military campaign outside Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran, Iran, April 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Francisco Seco)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26096349805418-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tA man and a woman ride a motorcycle through traffic past Azadi Tower in Tehran, Iran, April 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Francisco Seco)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AFP__20260404__A6QW6CF__v1__HighRes__IranIsraelUsWarUniversities-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tA man walks past the damaged building of the Shahid Beheshti University following a strike, in Tehran on April 4, 2026. (AFP)<\/p>\n
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