'My loved ones back in Iran feel like hostages'

"We are like hostages here and we can't do anything but wait."

The words of a friend in Iran relayed to West Midlands woman Nargis and then shared with the BBC.

Nargis lives in Birmingham, but has family and friends in places like Tehran and Isfahan.

After getting in touch with BBC Your Voice, she told us she had not been able to contact her loved ones directly since Saturday, as heavy bombardment continued across the capital.

We are not sharing her real name or details of her occupation because of the risks faced by Iranians who speak out against the government, including those living abroad.

"When we hear from them it's just like 'we are fine' which means that 'we are alive'," Nargis later told BBC Radio WM.

"I know that like any other family they don't want to make us worry [any] more so they probably don't tell us all of the reality of what they're experiencing."

With the conflict now into its third week, people like Nargis remain gripped with anxiety about their loved ones and have no reliable way to contact them.

"I don't know how long we are going to be able to bear this level of stress that we are feeling every day," she continued.

"We hear the news about what is happening or which places have been attacked but then we cannot hear from our family."

Nargis is also sceptical about whether the conflict will lead to political change, believing the new Iranian leader is "an unknown quantity".

"I don't think, and many people around, we don't think that war is a solution," she went on.

"I think it's a very simplified version of reality if we say all people of Iran wanted this.

"Iran is a huge country with 90 million people and there are many people who didn't want the war."

Sean Bell, a military analyst and former Air Vice Marshal based in Solihull, told BBC Radio WM that President Trump appeared to have underestimated Iran's ability to resist.

He explained Iran was fighting American technology with a huge number of inexpensive drones, while blocking the Strait of Hormuz to push up the price of oil, something that is already being felt at petrol pumps across the UK.

"It doesn't look like Iran is getting ready to negotiate," he said.

"Quite frankly, I think President Trump's bitten off more than he can chew here.

"Iran has time on its hands. It is absolutely clear that President Trump does not."

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