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Australians with family stuck in Iran are living a nightmare. Trauma stalks those who escaped

An Iranian flag hangs on a building which hit by an Israeli strike

An Iranian flag hangs on a building in Tehran hit by an Israeli strike last week. (AP: Vahid Salemi)

In short:

Some 3,000 Australians and their family members are still waiting for help to leave Iran a week after Australia's diplomatic staff pulled out of the country.

China and India have coordinated the withdrawal of thousands of their citizens from Iran by road and air.

What's next?

Australian-Iranians are calling for greater efforts by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to evacuate fellow Australians and their family members from Iran.

Azar has not slept properly in days. 

In May, her 70-year-old mother Frances went to Iran to see her sisters — her first visit to the country in roughly a decade.

Frances is now one of around 3,000 Australians and their families registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for assistance to leave — almost two weeks after Israeli bombs started falling on the capital Tehran.

A woman pushes a shopping trolley with two children on it, all faces blurred

Frances wants to get home to her grandchildren in Australia. (Supplied)

On the advice of DFAT, Frances made the perilous overland journey to the Iran-Azerbaijan border hoping to cross. 

Instead, Azerbaijan officials said she needed a visa and a special code — and knocked her back.

DFAT has said some staff from its Iran embassy have remained at the Azerbaijan border to help Australians.

But Azar said they were unable to assist her mother.

"We didn't ask for buses, we didn't ask for planes … just open that damn door when they get there," she said.

"Have someone to verify their identification with their passports. That isn't difficult to do."

Early in the morning on Thursday (Sydney time), DFAT finally sent a code to Azar and Frances that would have allowed the mother to cross into Azerbaijan.

But Frances, who ran out of medication for her heart condition while waiting for days at the Azerbaijan border, was forced to travel further back into Iran to seek urgent medical help.

"She is the best hands-on grandma you could imagine. She does everything with my kids and for my kids," Azar said.

"Is my mum going to make it? I don't know."

The ABC understands that Foreign Minister Penny Wong has raised concerns with the speed of processing of border crossing codes with her Azerbaijani counterpart. 

As with other people in this story, the ABC is not publishing Azar and Frances's full names due to ongoing safety concerns.

'Why didn't you help us?'

Iran and Israel have agreed to a shaky ceasefire, but being in Iran remains dangerous.

Iran's Health Minister Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi this week said more than 600 people had died in Israeli strikes during the war.

The US-based Human Rights Activists group, based on figures collated from Iranian sources, put the death toll higher at 1,054.

Just days after Israel began bombing Iran in mid-June, DFAT evacuated its staff from Tehran to Azerbaijan.

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"The government has a responsibility to ensure the safety of our staff," Senator Wong said at the time.

"We do not have to cast our minds back too far in history to understand the risk to foreign officials in Iran in times of unrest."

Melbourne woman Mehi, who managed to escape Iran last week into Turkiye without DFAT assistance, said she felt abandoned by the Australian government. 

Smoke billows out of a fire in front of a mountain range, the apparent result of a bomb

Mehi said she witnessed bombing all along the route to Turkiye. (Supplied)

The evacuation of the embassy showed DFAT knew how to move Australians out of Iran, Mehi said.

"How come no-one sent me an email to say … 'there's a transport for all the Iranian-Australians, you can catch this bus?'" she said.

"You know the way to help other citizens. Why didn't you help us?

"You could have just had two buses there, take them to the border with Turkiye or Armenia, and help them to escape."

Unlike neighbouring Azerbaijan, Armenia does not require Australians to hold a visa for entry.

DFAT responded to the ABC's inquiries but did not address many of the specific concerns raised.

"DFAT officers in Azerbaijan, including at its border crossing, are working hard to support Australians seeking to leave Iran," a spokesperson said in a statement. 

"DFAT is working with Azerbaijan authorities to help facilitate border crossing codes. 

"We acknowledge that the number of people seeking to leave as well as the unstable internet connectivity in Iran is making the border crossing more difficult.

"Unfortunately, at this stage our ability to provide consular services is extremely limited due to the situation on the ground."   

A map showing Iran with the overland route from Tehran to Astara on the Azerbaijan border.

A map showing Iran with the overland route from Tehran to Astara on the Azerbaijan border. (ABC News: Jarrod Fankhauser)

Adelaide woman Naz Forooz, who first spoke to the ABC's Radio National Breakfast this week, found herself in a similar situation to Azar.

Ms Forooz's mother — who was in Iran to farewell her own dying mother — also travelled to the border on the advice of DFAT and was turned back by Azerbaijan officials.

Without the DFAT advice to go to the Azerbaijan border crossing people would have instead gone to the borders with Turkiye or Armenia, Ms Forooz said.

"But because [DFAT] said that there was help available, people started flooding [to the Azerbaijan border crossing] and then the system just couldn't handle it."

Azar agreed, arguing that people would not have gone to the Azerbaijan border had DFAT not directed them to do so.

"It looks like the ones that followed the DFAT advice were the most vulnerable ones ... like elderly women travelling on their own," she said.

"Armenia and Turkiye were the obvious choices. Or they would just stay put."

The US has encouraged Americans in Iran to exit via land borders into Azerbaijan, Armenia or Turkiye "if they can do so safely".

Chinese state media reported this week that its embassy had managed to get almost all Chinese nationals out of Iran, after booking 17 buses to evacuate people via land border crossings into Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.

India's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it has evacuated some 2,576 Indians from Iran since last week.

Mehi decided "no-one is going to do anything for us" and left Tehran one day before Israeli strikes hit the offices of Iran's state broadcaster — next door to Mehi's family home.

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She said DFAT's communications had been generic and unhelpful — urging her to follow Smartraveller on social media for updates.

But Iranian authorities have regularly cut off internet access in the country since the war with Israel broke out — at times for days at a time.

"Are you serious? I just asked for help, you're asking me to look at Instagram and Facebook," Mehi said.

"I'm dealing with my life and my family."

Iranian-Australians left feeling despondent

Ms Forooz's mother is, for now, still in Iran.

Ms Forooz told the ABC she was left with "zero faith" in DFAT and frustration at a perceived lack of urgency by the department.

"It feels like I have done a lot more to organise her path back home than DFAT has," she said.

"There's obviously been a systematic failure. There's been a complete lack of clear communication and the information they've given us turned out to be wrong.

"My mum followed every step that was asked of her and still ended up stranded because the system just didn't work."
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Safe in Melbourne, Mehi worries for her Iranian family members who can't leave the country.

The trauma of their harrowing escape into Turkiye, during which Mehi held onto pepper spray because she feared what people might do to them along the way, meant she has been unable to return to work.

Her 22-year-old daughter, a science student at Deakin University, had not left the house since arriving into Melbourne last Thursday.

"We pay our taxes ... we are just the same as other communities," Mehi said.

"The most painful part is no-one helped us."

Other Iranian-Australians who spoke to the ABC resoundingly felt the response was drastically different to that for Australian citizens in Israel. 

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Several government-assisted flights this week have helped hundreds of Australians flee Tel Aviv. 

Flight tracking website Flightradar24 reported on Thursday morning (Sydney time) that Iranian airspace over Tehran and western parts of the country remained closed.

Azar said her mother Frances — a NSW nurse for several decades — had been let down by what she saw as a government that "doesn't care about [Iranians] as a community".

A photo shows blurred faces of two children with their grandmother

Azar worries Frances won't get to see her grandchildren again. (Supplied)

"She's dedicated most of her life to serving the Australian community," Azar said.

"Is it that one person born in one country, has priority over someone born in another? 

"Because that's what it looks like."