The flow of people to Armenia through the Agarak checkpoint on the Armenia-Iran border has not stopped for several days now.

The Iran-Israel conflict, which is escalating day by day, has forced many people in Iran to pack their bags and set off as quickly as possible. Among them are Iranians, Armenians, Russians, and Indians. In an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am, they spoke about the situation in Iran, their decision to come to Armenia, the difficulties of the road, and their future plans.

“The situation in [Iranian capital] Tehran was very bad, many people have already left there. [Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu is to blame for all this. Why should innocent people suffer? War is a very bad thing,” said an elderly man from Tehran, some of whose family members are still in Iran.

Another man from Iran noted that the situation there is relatively normal, “controllable” at the moment, and that he came to Armenia to go to Moscow.

People arriving from Iran are dissatisfied with the prices of taxi services in Armenia. They say that taxi drivers are demanding $100 or more per person from them to get from Armenia’s southernmost Meghri city to the capital, Yerevan.

“They have doubled or tripled the price of taxi services due to this situation,” said an Iranian man.

But drivers from Meghri deny their claims. They say that they have not changed the prices of taxi services, as they want 60,000 drams (approx. $160) to take three people to Yerevan, and that it is the drivers from abroad who are demanding $100 or more.

“Let them not dishonor the people from Meghri. People [who have come from Iran] are in a misfortune, they have come [to Armenia], we take [them] to Yerevan for 60,000 drams. Ninety percent of the drivers standing here are not from Meghri,” said a local taxi driver.

On June 13, Israel attacked Iran, and this was followed by retaliatory measures by Iran. Military actions between the two countries are continuing to this day.