Lyse Doucet: Under fragile ceasefire, Iranians wonder if US deal can be done

The BBC’s chief international correspondent reports from Iran as diplomatic efforts to avoid a return to war intensify. The BBC’s chief international correspondent reports from Iran as diplomatic efforts to avoid a return to war intensify.

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The BBC’s chief international correspondent reports from Iran as diplomatic efforts to avoid a return to war intensify.

On the plains of northwestern Iran, edged by snow-ribboned ridges, spring nudges almond trees into frothy bloom and a fragile ceasefire brings more traffic onto highways, and more Iranians back to their homeland.

“I stayed with my son in Turkey for a month,” a grey-haired banker says as we stand waiting in the departures hall at a Turkish crossing where a late winter’s snow has sent temperatures plunging on that side of the border.

“In my city in the north the Israeli and American airstrikes mainly hit military targets, not homes and civilian infrastructure,” was his personal summary of five weeks of grievous war, paused by a two-week truce whose end falls in a week’s time.

“I’m a bit scared,” an elderly woman in a headscarf confessed, her face wrinkling into worry. She spoke mournfully of the suffering of young Iranians – from the shells which crashed into crowded residential neighbourhoods, to the threats from Iran’s Basij paramilitary forces who prowl the streets.

“It’s all in God’s hands,” she murmured, lifting her eyes upward.

Others focused on more temporal pressure.

“Of course, the ceasefire won’t hold,” declared a young woman in a bright red puffer jacket and a knitted hat. “Iran will never give up its control of the Strait of Hormuz.''

Later, as we clear Turkish customs and enter the Islamic Republic of Iran, one man next to us exclaims when I ask about this current calm, “Trump will never leave Iran alone; he wants to swallow us!”

It’s hard not to think about the US president and commander-in-chief on the long drive to Tehran - the only way to reach the capital since airports are still shut – because it’s hard not to stare at every bridge that still spans the road, glinting in the spring sun.

On Wednesday Trump doubled down on his warning he could destroy every last bridge in Iran, telling Fox Business News: “We could take out every one of their bridges in one hour” along with every power plant. But, he added, “we don’t want to do that”.

On this 12-hour journey to the capital, vehicles are now forced to take a detour down winding rural roads because the main bridge linking the northern city of Tabriz with Tehran, via Zanjan, collapsed under missile fire last week.

The targeting of civilian infrastructure has been met by a growing chorus of criticism from legal scholars who warn of violations of international humanitarian law and possible war crimes. The US and Israel insist they’re only striking military targets.

We spot those targets