A huge line of stopped cars on a highway at the western exit of Tehran, on June 15, 2025. (Credit: Atta Kenare/AFP.)
BEIRUT — Numerous residents of Tehran are fleeing en masse from the capital, targeted by Israeli strikes, and a massive traffic jam has formed on the main road heading north, according to multiple images posted on social media on Monday.
Images verified by AFP, taken from a highway bridge, show a huge line of stationary cars on a highway at the northern exit of Tehran, with almost no vehicles traveling in the opposite direction. The airspace is closed until further notice, and the road is the only way to leave the capital, targeted by intense bombings.
Israel has called on Tehran residents to stay away from all military infrastructures, but security forces are omnipresent in the city, including in residential areas. The traffic jam appears to be concentrated on Highway 49, which connects Tehran to Chalus, on the Caspian Sea, according to videos posted by Iran International, a Persian-language television station based abroad, and from the images of well-known Iranian bloggers.
Chalus is located 150 km north of the capital, and even in normal times, it takes three hours to drive through the mountains to reach Chalus, in the province of Mazanderan, a city favored by Tehran residents for its temperate climate. Videos showing long lines at gas stations have also been posted on social media.
On June 13, Israel launched an unprecedented attack on Iran, targeting hundreds of military and nuclear sites, with the stated goal of preventing the country from acquiring an atomic bomb. The Israeli strikes have killed at least 224 people and wounded over a thousand in Iran, according to an official count released on Sunday. The salvos of Iranian missiles fired in retaliation on Israel have caused 24 deaths since Friday, according to the Israeli Prime Minister's office.