…Babul Mia lived under the constant threat of missile strikes near Tehran, cut off from his family in Bangladesh and unsure if he would survive.

The migrant worker from Paniumda village in Nabiganj upazila of Habiganj said he spent nearly three weeks in fear as explosions shook the area around his workplace in Hasanabad, where he worked at a steel factory.

“Planes flew like flocks of birds. Missiles came again and again,” Babul told this correspondent, describing nights without sleep and days marked by uncertainty.

At one point, he decided to leave the factory and attempt to reach the Bangladesh embassy, despite ongoing missile strikes…

He left for Oman in July 2019 but later entered Iran without valid documents and found work at a factory near Tehran. Around 80 Bangladeshi workers lived in cramped quarters, with eight to nine men sharing a single room.

He said the situation escalated on February 28 this year when a loud explosion jolted workers awake around dawn.

“After dinner on February 28, we went to bed as usual. At around 5:00am, a loud explosion shook the entire building.”

“We ran out of our rooms. At first, I thought it was a drill. Then I saw missiles through the window. I thought I would die there,” he said…