Iranian citizens who are opposed to the country's regime are living in constant fear of being identified by agents who prowl the streets looking for dissenters, a secret dissident has revealed.
A terrifying firsthand insight today emerges into the plight of millions of ordinary Iranians who are secretly hoping the US attack on the country may finally lead to regime changes - but are worried their feelings may be found out.
It was provided by 'Layla', a 50-year-old worker at Iran's Department of Health, who is based in Tehran.
Layla's account of life under the repressive Islamic Republic government was shared via a series of voice notes which she passed to the Daily Mail via a relative in Australia.
She took the incalculable risk because she wants people in the wider world to know how people like her who oppose the Ayatollah are living.
Layla told us: 'We are constantly under stress, and our lives are not normal.
'We live in fear of regime agents who come into the streets every night, chant slogans, shine lasers into homes, and disrupt our lives.
'Right now, the fear of these people - the regime's agents - is far greater for us than the fear of American and Israeli bombings.'
A terrifying firsthand insight today emerges into the plight of millions of ordinary Iranians from 'Layla' (pictured), a 50-year-old worker at Iran's Department of Health, who is based in Tehran
She says people who oppose the Ayatollah are secretly hoping the US attack on the country may finally lead to regime changes - but are worried their feelings may be found out. Pictured: Smoke rises after a strike on Tehran, Iran, on March 3
Layla told us: 'We are constantly under stress, and our lives are not normal'. Pictured: A member of the Iranian security forces in front of a political billboard reading in Persian 'The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed' in Tehran, Iran, on April 5
And she told how she would rather the war intensify than end in a truce.
She went on: 'Honestly, if regime change doesn't happen, this regime will destroy us — the people.
'And we are not a small number.
'Out of a population of around 90million, I can confidently say that about 70million people feel the same way: that if there is no regime change, this system will ultimately destroy the population
'And in my view, this kind of regime change can only happen through external intervention, or through a ground force.'
She says the majority of ordinary Iranians share her view that it would be better for the tentative truce to collapse than to allow the repressive Iranian regime to regain a stronger internal grip.
She went on: 'This regime should not be given the opportunity to rebuild itself. In my view, a ceasefire only gives it the time and space to recover and regain its strength.
'It must not be allowed to restore its capacity, especially when that capacity is used to suppress the people.
She told how she would rather the war intensify than end in a truce: 'Honestly, if regime change doesn't happen, this regime will destroy us — the people'. Pictured: Smoke rises ater a strike on Tehran, Iran, on April 6
Layla says the majority of ordinary Iranians share her view that it would be better for the tentative truce to collapse than to allow the repressive Iranian regime to regain a stronger internal grip. Pictured: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during a military rally in Tehran, Iran, in January last year
She went on: 'This regime should not be given the opportunity to rebuild itself'. Pictured: Motorbikes drive past a billboard depicting the country's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28
'Since January, when the protests here began and were brutally suppressed, and thousands of people were killed, there has been no life left for us.'
But Layla said civilians aren't 'really afraid' of the bombings, and stoically pull blankets over their heads to muffle the sound of explosions at night.
'When you look at the city, it doesn't appear as if it has been bombed or that you're facing a devastated place,' she added.
'In fact, the city's appearance hasn't really changed.
'The bombings have been so targeted that not only has the city's face remained intact, but you could even say that what we see now is a bluer sky.
'During the period of bombardment, many of the regime's activities were effectively halted.
'As a result, the damage the regime had been causing to the country's infrastructure also stopped during that time.
'The air feels cleaner, the rivers seem clearer, and some environmental conditions appear to have improved.'