In those first minutes, they’ll be stunned. Eyes fixed in a
thousand-yard stare, nerve endings numbed. They’ll just stand
there. Soon, you’ll notice that they are holding their arms out
at a 45-degree angle. Your eyes will be drawn to their hands and
you’ll think you mind is playing tricks. But it won’t be. Their
fingers will start to resemble stalactites, seeming to melt
toward the ground. And it won’t be long until the screaming
begins. Shrieking. Moaning. Tens of thousands of victims at
once. They’ll be standing amid a sea of shattered concrete and
glass, a wasteland punctuated by the shells of buildings,
orphaned walls, stairways leading nowhere. This could be Tehran,
or what’s left of it, just after an Israeli nuclear strike.
Iranian cities — owing to geography, climate, building
construction, and population densities — are particularly
vulnerable to nuclear attack, according to a new study, “Nuclear
War Between Israel and Iran: Lethality Beyond the Pale,”
published in the journal Conflict & Health by re