Taraneh Fathalian, BBC

The “last photo of home” before closing the door and leaving the city, the photo of suitcases filled with essentials and items that are hard to let go of, and the narrative of goodbyes is perhaps one of the saddest trends that the Persian-speaking cyberspace has seen.

Since the start of the Israel-Iran war and in the absence of shelter, it seems that a group of Tehran residents, torn between staying and leaving, are leaving their homes and lives in search of safety. Many have also said that the decision to leave home is a difficult one and that their living conditions are not such that they can or want to leave the city.

Many users who left their cities after the war began took photos of their homes and said that they hope that their homes will be there when they return.

One user wrote that she packed her belongings and essentials into a suitcase, watered her plants, and hit the road: “How hard it is to leave home when you don’t know if you’ll ever come back.”

Another user took a photo of her tidy home with the lights off and the curtains drawn, writing: “Home has never been so sad. I don’t know if there’s a return, or…”