The Albany Gazette - Music and barbecues in Tehran despite Trump threats

The country has been at war for more than a month and Trump -- who launched the conflict alongside Israel on February 28 -- has vowed to strike Iran hard for another "two or three weeks".

Powerful blasts shook the Iranian capital on Thursday.

Still, hundreds of families sat out under mild, cloudy skies, picnicking amid sweeping views of the snow-capped Alborz mountains -- a postcard scene at odds with a city under regular attack.

Thursday marked the 13th and final day of the Persian new year festivities, known as Sizdah‑bedar or Nature Day.

Tradition calls for spending the day outdoors to ward off bad luck.

"We must keep this ritual alive under all circumstances, even in the current situation and despite the distress we feel," Roya Abhari, 39, told AFP.

"I saw President Trump's message, and wondered: will Iran really go back to the Stone Age in two or three weeks?"

She had come to the park alone to "to be around people, recharge and feel better".

- Sanctuaries -

On an embroidered picnic laid out on the grass, a group of friends chatted over tea as food simmered gently on a gas stove.

Nearby, a man fanned skewers sizzling on a barbecue grill while a couple played badminton and retirees sang cheerfully on a park bench.

"It (war) doesn't disrupt anything at all for us. We are living a normal life... We are not afraid of war," said metalworker, Hakim Rahimi, 43.

But the joyful scenes were far from the reality of the war, with blasts rocking neighbourhoods and families mourning the dead elsewhere in the city.

That morning, strikes heavily damaged a century-old medical centre in the capital.

Tehran's many parks, usually green lungs in a metropolis often choked by pollution, have become refuges since the fighting began.

Joggers, cyclists and casual strollers still flock to them daily, despite the risk of bombardment.

But Iran's threat on Thursday of "crushing" retaliation if US strikes intensify renewed fears of escalation in a conflict rippling across the region and global markets.

"I hope God gives our soldiers strength every day," said housewife Parastou Safiani.

(P.Davis--TAG)