On a busy motorway in central Istanbul’s Aksaray area, white coaches printed with Farsi slogans stood parked at the side of the road on Friday as travellers milled about smoking and drinking from bottles of water before taking their seats for the 36-hour ride to Tehran.
“It’s their home, what would you do if something like this happened in your country? You would want to go home,” says Abofazl, a coach driver from northern Iran.
He was making his third such journey after Israel began launching attacks attack on Iran on June 13, forcing the closure of airspace across the region.
“I am sad, it’s my country," he told The National. "They don’t care about the Iranian people. They are doing this for their own benefit."
Iran has retaliated by launching ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, and the death toll and destruction on both sides continues to rise.
With airline services cancelled, Iranians are taking the overland route home from Turkey through one of the three crossing points along its 534km border with Iran.
According to travel company managers who spoke to The National, thousands of Iranians have made the journey already, paying between 4,000-5,000 Turkish lira ($100-126) for a ticket.
Nazmi Guven, a tourism and travel manager in Aksaray, said hundreds of Iranians had taken coaches home each day in the past week.
“It was 400-500 people a day at the beginning of the week, now it’s a bit less,” he told The National, as a worker beside him filled out a passenger manifest and fixed stickers to the back of each traveller's passport.
Passengers milled around travel company offices, whose windows were filled with signs offering “VIP” services, including coaches with Wi-Fi and beds. Many suitcases bore airport luggage tags, suggesting their owners were not returning home the same way they came.
In interviews, Iranians said they wanted to go home to be with their families, especially because internet shutdowns in Iran had made remote communication difficult. The majority of Iranian internet users had been without a connection for 36 hours, the London-based NetBlocks internet observatory group said on Friday morning. Most Iranians who spoke to The National did not want their names and personal information revealed, because of the sensitivity around talking to journalists.
I don’t know what will happen, but if it escalates more then at least I am there.
Iranian in Turkey returning home via land border
A painter in his 20s who has been living in Turkey for eight years said he was going back to Golestan, a region on Iran’s border with Turkmenistan, to be with his family.
“I am only going back because of the war,” he told The National. “I haven’t been able to speak to my family for a week. My wife and parents didn’t tell me to come back, I wanted to go back.
"I don’t know what will happen, but if it escalates more then at least I am there.”
Iranians described relief at being able to return home to see their families, but also apprehension over an unknown future.
One of the waiting passengers said he arrived in Istanbul from Australia at 5am on June 13, planning to take a flight onwards to Iran to visit family members in Tabriz whom he had not seen in years. Just as he arrived, Israel began striking Iran, and the airspace was closed. A week later, the man in his 40s, who declined to give his name, is making the trip by coach.
“I am planning to spend just a few days in Iran. I feel stressed, confused, I don’t know what is happening,” he said. Asked what he would do if he could not leave Iran, he replied, “I honestly don’t know.”
Some of the Iranians going home were on holiday in Turkey. It is one of the few countries that Iranians can enter visa-free, and 3.3 million visited the country last year, according to Turkish government statistics. Other Iranians were abroad elsewhere when the conflict broke out. Their original travel plans foiled by airspace closures, they found themselves rerouted through Turkey instead.
Wearing a blue tropical print shirt, a 35-year-old chemical engineer from Shiraz said he was on holiday in Malaysia and Singapore when the Israel strikes began. His flight home through Sharjah in the UAE was cancelled, forcing him to take the land route home from Turkey instead.
“The bus journey is so long,” he said as he waited for his coach to depart. “I feel like a homeless person.”
For some, the war has prompted them to return home permanently after living and working in Turkey for many years. According to Turkish migration authorities, 74,000 Iranians have residency permits in the country.
“This is the end of my time in Turkey; it’s a good thing,” a carpenter in his 20s from the north-eastern city of Gonbad-e Qabus told The National with a smile.
“I am far away from my family. It has become much more expensive here. It’s not good,” he said. A loaf of bread that cost 1.5 lira when he arrived before the coronavirus pandemic has gone up to as much as 50 lira, he added. “Even if we lose our work, we are going back to Iran.”
Even those Iranians who do not support their Islamist government opposed Israel's strikes on their country, which have killed many civilians besides senior military leaders and nuclear scientists. Many see indifference towards Iranians’ suffering, or outright support for Israel, from western government officials.
“Israel, the UK and US don’t care about the Iranian people’s interests, they are looking out for their own interests - oil, gas and economic interests,” said Mr Sheikh, the travel company manager, said. “Their hearts aren’t bleeding for us."
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
THE%C2%A0SPECS
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BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
The low down
Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films
Director: Namrata Singh Gujral
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
World ranking (at month’s end)
Jan - 257
Feb - 198
Mar - 159
Apr - 161
May - 159
Jun – 162
Currently: 88
Year-end rank since turning pro
2016 - 279
2015 - 185
2014 - 143
2013 - 63
2012 - 384
2011 - 883
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The%20Last%20White%20Man
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Mohsin%20Hamid%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E192%20pages%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPublished%20by%3A%20Hamish%20Hamilton%20(UK)%2C%20Riverhead%20Books%20(US)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERelease%20date%3A%20out%20now%20in%20the%20US%2C%20August%2011%20(UK)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The years Ramadan fell in May
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Porsche Taycan Turbo specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 1050Nm
Range: 450km
Price: Dh601,800
On sale: now
The Old Slave and the Mastiff
Patrick Chamoiseau
Translated from the French and Creole by Linda Coverdale
COMPANY%20PROFILE%3A
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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European arms
Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons. Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
