Laura Topham

Exiled Iranians dancing to YMCA in front of the Israeli Embassy in Berlin 🇮🇷🇮🇱 A favorite song of @POTUS Donald Trump - now danced by those who fled the Iranian regime. They thank President Trump. They thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They thank Israel. For them, this is what freedom looks like. #YMCA #TrumpDance #FreeIran #Israel #Berlin

🇮🇷 47 years ago, I stood at a window in Tehran as a 3-year-old boy, smelling burning tires and hearing the chants that would steal my country. I didn’t have words for what was happening. Today, I am watching smoke rise over the same city — but this time the smoke is not the end of Iran. It is, God willing, the beginning of her resurrection. Several weeks ago I wrote in that the fever of 1979 was finally breaking. I never imagined I would wake up to see that fever confronted so directly. Israel — with the clear support of the United States — has launched a preemptive strike deep into Tehran and against the regime’s military machinery. Explosions in the capital. Military targets hit. The IRGC’s aura of invincibility, already cracked, is shattering in real time. I do not celebrate war. No decent person does. What I celebrate — what millions of Iranians inside the country and in the diaspora have prayed for in secret for decades — is the possibility that a regime which has no right to exist may finally be forced to go. This is the same regime that: - Armed and cheered the October 7 massacre against Israel for no reason other than pure genocidal hatred. - Murdered tens of thousands of its own sons and daughters who dared to walk peacefully in the streets demanding the most basic freedoms. - Gouges out the eyes of young women for the “crime” of wearing makeup. - Hangs teenagers from cranes for posting a tweet. - Exports terror, poverty, and darkness to every corner it can reach including the U.S. No nation, no people, should have to live under that. Not Israelis. Not Americans. Not Lebanese. Not Syrians. And certainly not Iranians. I am a physician who has spent his life trying to heal bodies and a son of Iran who has spent his life mourning a stolen homeland. What we are witnessing is not aggression — it is surgery. Painful, necessary surgery to remove a tumor that has metastasized for 47 years. The tumor is the Islamic Republic that has hijacked Iran. To the brave pilots and special operators of the Israeli Air Force and the men and women of the United States military now carrying out this mission: I pray for you with everything I have. May God shield you from harm. May every missile find its target and every soldier return home safely to the families who love them. You are not invaders. You are the answer to the prayers of millions who have whispered “enough” in the dark since 1979. You are giving our friends the chance to breathe free air again. The entire region will owe you a peace we have not known in my lifetime. To my fellow Iranians watching from inside the country right now, heart pounding, maybe hiding in basements or on rooftops: Hold on. The end is clearer than it has ever been. The regime’s fear is real. Their eyes — those same eyes that once stared down at us with absolute power — now show something they haven’t shown in decades: panic. The math has changed. The window of 1979 is finally closing. To the little three-year-old boy I once was — and to every little boy and girl in Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Tabriz today who hears explosions instead of lullabies: This time the sounds are not the closing of a door. They are the opening of one. The road ahead will not be easy. Transitions never are. But the direction is unmistakable. A secular, prosperous, free Iran is no longer a dream — it is becoming an inevitability. I have lived the stolen life so that others might not have to. Today, for the first time in 47 years, I allow myself to believe that the stealing is almost over. Thank you, Israel. Thank you, America. The Iranian people — the real Iran — will never forget. The fever is breaking. The dawn of 2026 is here. And this time, the light wins. 🇮🇷❤️🇮🇱🇺🇸

Amazing. Iranians are playing music and DANCING IN THE STREETS. Everyone waited for this day.

My dear compatriots, Decisive moments lie before us. The assistance that the President of the United States had promised to the brave people of Iran has now arrived. This is a humanitarian intervention, and its target is the Islamic Republic, its apparatus of repression, and its machinery of killing—not the country and great nation of Iran. However, despite the arrival of this assistance, the final victory will still be achieved by us. It is we, the people of Iran, who will finish this task in this final battle. The time to return to the streets is approaching. Now that the Islamic Republic is collapsing, my message to the country’s military, law enforcement, and security forces is clear: You have sworn an oath to protect Iran and the Iranian nation, not the Islamic Republic and its leaders. Your duty is to defend the people, not to defend a regime that has taken our homeland hostage through repression and crime. Join the nation and help ensure a stable and secure transition. Otherwise, you will sink with Khamenei’s ship and his crumbling regime. And my message to the President of the United States, President Trump, is this: The honorable people of Iran, despite the brutal repression and killings carried out by this regime, stood bravely for nearly two months. I now ask you to exercise the utmost possible caution to preserve the lives of civilians and my compatriots. The people of Iran are your natural allies and the allies of the free world, and they will not forget your assistance during the most difficult period of Iran’s contemporary history. And to you, my dear compatriots in Iran: In these sensitive hours and days, more than ever we must remain focused on our ultimate goal: reclaiming Iran. I ask you, for now, to remain in your homes and remain calm and safe. Stay alert and ready to return to the streets for the final action at the appropriate time, which I will communicate to you. Follow my messages through social media and satellite media. If disruptions occur in the internet and satellite broadcasts, I will remain in contact with you via radio. We are very close to final victory. I hope to be with you as soon as possible so that together we may reclaim Iran and rebuild it. Long live Iran. Reza Pahlavi

@VikiLovesFACS Thank you so much! (and thanks also for publicising the vaccine)

@LauraTopham Oh no! We do have some data on whether "old" vaccines help and they are still about 75% protective against severe disease in pregnancy, which is what we worry about most. So a lot better than nothing! Wishing you a speedy recovery! thelancet.com/journals/lance…

🤰🏽 If you live in the UK and are #pregnant, you are eligible for a #CovidBooster 💻 Online booking is now open! #BoostTheBump #ProtectYouBoth nhs.uk/nhs-services/c…

@willrdean Anything in the south east? 🙏🤞🏻

me on this book tour

This this ustoday.news/how-we-learned…

@MCMLXXXVII87 Please start one

@toryman1979 @matt_tebbutt Agree

@alexlloydjourno Yes! It is. Amazing to watch

@LauraTopham It’s just spectacular. Proper pomp with a real air of solemnity.

The spectacle, the drama, the precision of this march - wow

@ArianeSherine Get a good surveyor!

Windows aren't broken and the guttering is fixable, but turns out she's probably right about the water main. I'm going to have to put a hatch down when I replace the flooring and cover it with a rug. And I'm going to have to get Pam on-side in the event that I ever need to sell!

Went to view the house I'm buying again. In the garden the old lady next door stuck her head over the fence Her (grimly): They built the extension over the water main Estate agent: Thank you Pam Her: The guttering and windows are broken, and there are foxes EA: THANK YOU PAM!

@Jake_Kanter Thank you for shining a light on the impact of the pandemic on maternal mental health. Huge yet under discussed. I also have a 2yo so v much understand. Hope your wife is able to enjoy life again soon x

Getting messages about my job being advertised, so here goes: it is with sadness that I have resigned from The Times. It was the dream job, but it has come at a nightmare time for my family. I'm taking some time off to put them first before getting back in the saddle.

@ArianeSherine Ah! I never get told anything!

@LauraTopham Gwyngle! 😄

Lil before the match. Haven’t spoken to her since but she’ll be so happy! 🥳

@ElspethLatimer Yesssssss! Well done!

Thrilled to share the exciting news that my novel is on the longlist for the Bath Novel Award #BNA2022!!! (Shortlisting is underway – entries are judged 'blind' so if you know the title of my novel, please don't reveal it) Congratulations to everyone else on the LL & good luck!!!

@missgeorgieanne Huge congratulations! xxxx

Mr and Mrs Staines. 14.5.2022

@writesJW Hang in there. I hear you x

@ArianeSherine Chris witty just said the lft test shows how infectious you are - positive means infectious

Grandad still testing positive on Day 9 so he called 119. They said he’s legally allowed to leave tomorrow however he’s testing, as from Day 10 onwards he’s officially uninfectious, even if he’s testing positive. Is this scientifically true, or just the case for economic reasons?

@StevenJoss8 Hope you’re ok x Good friends definitely get you through

This is not a bitch or moan just an observation. When you lose a loved one whoever that may be parents spouse etc and so many friends say I will come to see you let's keep in touch be thankful for the ones who do they are real friends and one of them is worth 100 of the other.