‘This is the last time I’ll see you’: One Canadian doctor’s story of escaping war in Iran

Adrian Ghobrial speaks with Canadians in Israel and Iran as they describe the terrifying threat of airstrikes from both sides.

Panid Borhanjoo was rocked from his bed when an apartment building near his family home took a direct hit. He recalls hearing loud, rattling explosions from less than a kilometre away.

Borhanjoo, a doctor from Hamilton, Ont., was visiting family in Tehran when Israel unleashed deadly airstrikes against the capital city. He considers himself one of the fortunate few who’ve managed to get out of Iran through a land border crossing into Turkiye, but it has come at a personal cost.

“I had to leave and say goodbye to (my family) in Tehran which was very emotional, especially my mom who hugged me and said, ‘this is the last time I’ll see you.’”

After taking a moment to ponder the harsh possibilities of war, Barhanjoo shares that “its possible, as sad as it is for me to say.”

So far, officials in Iran say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 224 people and wounded more than 1,200. Israeli officials say Iranian strikes have killed 24 people in Israel and wounded more than 500.

Approaching the Razi-Kapiköy border crossing between Iran and Turkey, he watched missiles cross the night sky. On the ground, there were other risks.

“There’s a lot of mugging and kidnapping happening, because there are a lot of people with money trying to cross the border. It’s a very risky and unsafe process,” said Barhanjoo, who added his driver carries a gun for protection.

This week, U.S. President Donald Trump told everyone in Tehran – a city of nearly 10 million people – to evacuate, something Barhanjoo says is simply impossible for hundreds of thousands of Iranians.

“There are only a few roads that connect Tehran to those neighbouring provinces. It’s extremely unrealistic to assume that all these people can just get on a road somehow, all together in a matter of hours, get to safety,” said the doctor.

He noted Tehran does not have a network of highways comparable to a similarly sized North American city.

Barhanjoo believes he was fortunate, because he made his own call to try and get out of the country before Trump wrote his evacuation notice. Now, “all the roads are jammed, all the highways are gridlocked,” he said. “The lineup to get at gas stations when I was travelling was three hours. You’re limited to about 10 litres of fuel, which is nothing.”

Commercial airspace over Iran has been completely closed for days as incoming rockets pose a danger to aircraft in the region.

Speaking to CTV News just hours before boarding a flight from Istanbul to Toronto, Barhanjoo’s heart is with his family, friends and loved ones trapped in the grips of war inside Iran.

When asked if he has a message to share with his fellow Canadians, Barhanjoo shares his view that “regular people are paying the price for this (conflict). What I want to see is the immediate de-escalation of this war because there are millions of people who are going to be without homes, without incomes, without food, without safety. The way things are going right now, I would hate to see Tehran become the next Gaza.”