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More from Tehran

[b]Tehran is “deserted,” returning Turkish citizens say

Turkish citizens returning home from Iran have described the capital Tehran as “deserted,” saying that many Iranians have left for the countryside as the US and Israel continue their bombing campaign.

“Everyone (in Tehran) is terrified right now,” Turgut Gunes told the news agency Reuters from the Esendere border crossing in eastern Turkey.

“Everyone has left their homes,” Gunes said. “Everyone has fled toward their country houses … The city is deserted right now. There’s almost nobody there.”

Turkey’s Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said on Wednesday that Iran was allowing Turks and third-country citizens to exit the country, while restricting its own nationals from leaving, the news agency reported.

“People are very worried about the attacks,” Kenan Ozer, who also entered Turkey from Iran, told Reuters.

“They can’t leave their homes. In Tehran, most people have already fled. They’ve all gone back to their hometowns. And the exodus is still continuing.”[/b]

A member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stands guard in front of a banner depicting a portrait of Iran's late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his virgins in heaven, near an area targeted in U.S.-Israeli strikes in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2026.

This fool just made himself a moving target with that statement.

South African president offers to mediate U.S.-Iran peace talks

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called on Wednesday for a ceasefire in the Middle East and offered to mediate any future peace talks.

"We want this madness to come to an end," he told reporters in a broadcast by local news station Newzroom Afrika. "South Africa is always ready to play a contributing role in mediation, if a gap opens or we are asked, we always live up to obligations. We are a global citizen so we can play whatever role that the UN would like us to play."

Asked whether he had spoken to Trump, Ramaphosa said: "Donald Trump is very busy right now, he's got a war on his hands." He added that if he had the opportunity to speak to his U.S. counterpart, he would urge him to agree a ceasefire with Iran.

"And we want this war to come to an end immediately. We're losing too many lives and unnecessarily so," he told journalists.