JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The U.S. military now says it is striking deeper into Iran. And today, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that the 5-day-old war is just getting started. More people in Iran are now fleeing the relentless bombing. NPR's Ruth Sherlock is at the border between Turkey and Iran and spoke to some of those who were leaving. Hi, Ruth.
RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE: Hi.
SUMMERS: Ruth, tell us a bit about the people who are leaving Iran right now. What have you heard from them?
SHERLOCK: Well, the first thing to say is that, you know, the people we saw coming out, a lot of them looked traumatized and exhausted. Two people we spoke to talked about airstrikes landing quite close to them as they made this journey out of the country. And one of those people started crying and shaking with this kind of mix of trauma but also relief that she'd made it to Turkey.
She's a doctor in Iran. And she decided to speak to us, asking us not to use her name because, you know, speaking with foreign journalists could make her a target of the regime if she goes back. But she says she's seen many, many civilians dying in these Israeli and American airstrikes. She's been treating wounded coming into the hospital where she works. And I asked her what kind of injuries she was seeing.
UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: Everything. Any injuries you can imagine. We had lots of trauma. Head trauma, foot, leg, body and abdomen, for example. We had lots of kidney laceration, spleen laceration surgeries, very big surgeries. Lots of amputation of foots.
SHERLOCK: So she's talking about feet being amputated there. And, you know, the death toll in these last five days from airstrikes in Iran is over a thousand people, according to the Iranian Red Crescent. And this doctor told us she easily understands how that figure could be true. She says it's not just military targets that are being hit. These are densely populated neighborhoods. And there are civilian buildings coming down, too, she says. She says a four-story residential building was bombed right close to her home.
SUMMERS: That's awful. But despite all of this...
SHERLOCK: Yeah.
SUMMERS: ...I understand that you also saw many people who were crossing back into Iran. What did they tell you about why they were returning home?
SHERLOCK: That's right. And, you know, it may seem kind of surprising and counterintuitive. But then you realize it makes total sense in this kind of awful way that shows the horrific, really, positions that civilians are being put in by this war. You know, people spoke to us saying they're going back to be with their loved ones. We spoke with one man in his mid-30s, who also didn't want to be named because of fear of being targeted by the Iranian government. And he's been living abroad for years for work. But in these days, communications are largely down. And he hasn't had any news from his family.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: I know the situation is very dangerous. But I chose to side to my family.
SHERLOCK: Yeah. Gosh.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: I say to my family, yeah.
SHERLOCK: To be with them during this time?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yes, yes, yes.
SHERLOCK: He'd brought his small dog, Teddy (ph), with him. And after speaking with us, they went towards the border. And they had this long and dangerous journey through the night to make it to where his family live.
SUMMERS: While the war is becoming more intense inside Iran, it's also expanding outside the country, now from the Indian Ocean to Turkey. Tell us the latest.
SHERLOCK: Well, yes. Defense Secretary Hegseth said today that a U.S. submarine had sunk an Iranian warship, with around 180 people believed to have been on board, in international waters. That's off the coast of Sri Lanka. And NATO missile defenses shot down what was believed to be an Iranian missile as it headed for Turkish airspace. That would have been the first time that Turkey had been targeted in this war so far.
SUMMERS: NPR's Ruth Sherlock on the border with Turkey and Iran. Thank you.
SHERLOCK: Thank you very much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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