Israel has attacked the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB and interrupted a dwell broadcast with an explosion, marking one other escalation within the conflict with Tehran and replicating its earlier assaults on information media targets in Gaza, the occupied West Financial institution and Lebanon.
TV anchor Sahar Emami denounced Monday’s “aggression towards the homeland” and the “reality” as a blast went off and smoke and particles crammed the display. The footage then confirmed her fleeing the studio as a voice is heard calling, “God is biggest.”
The assault got here shortly after the Israeli army issued a risk for Tehran’s District Three, the place IRIB’s headquarters is situated, and Defence Minister Israel Katz mentioned: “The Iranian propaganda and incitement mouthpiece is on its option to disappear.”
Iran’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei accused Israel of committing a “depraved act” that constitutes a struggle crime and of being the primary “killer of journalists and media individuals”.
The Committee to Shield Journalists (CPJ) has counted 178 journalists killed in Gaza by Israel since October 2023, making it the deadliest conflict for media staff ever recorded.
“The UNSC [United Nations Security Council] should act now to cease the genocidal aggressor from committing additional atrocities towards our individuals,” Baghaei wrote on X.
The CPJ mentioned it was “appalled” by Israel’s assault on Iranian state TV and argued impunity for the killings of Palestinian journalists had “emboldened” the nation to focus on media elsewhere. “This bloodshed should finish now,” the organisation mentioned on X.
Peyman Jebelli, the top of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), mentioned the organisation’s headquarters was attacked as a result of the Iranian media are “exactly focusing on the depth of the enemy’s media technique”.
In an announcement quoted by the semiofficial Mehr Information Company, he mentioned workers on the nationwide media outlet “loudly declare” their dedication to play their roles within the “hybrid struggle” initiated by Israel.
Iranian journalist Younes Shadlou mentioned a lot of his colleagues have been contained in the constructing when the Israeli assault occurred. “I don’t know what number of of my colleagues are nonetheless inside proper now,” he reported from outdoors the burning constructing in Tehran
“We had been given evacuation warnings, however everybody stayed till the final second to point out the true face of the Zionist regime to the world.”
Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari mentioned the strike was extremely symbolic as a result of it focused an entity with shut hyperlinks to the Iranian authorities. “The pinnacle of the community is appointed by the supreme chief instantly, so it’s a vital a part of the institution,” Jabbari mentioned.
“That is going to be a terrific shock for the Iranian individuals,” she continued. The station is situated in a big, fortified advanced that has a protracted historical past courting again to the Forties. The channel is probably the most watched inside Iran, and Emami is a famend anchor.
The assault ought to, subsequently, be seen as “an enormous message for Iran and most people and [it] goes to create every kind of fears”, Jabbari mentioned.
Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, mentioned Israel focused a glass constructing often known as the IRIB’s central constructing. The dwell broadcast was briefly disrupted, however Emami went again on TV shortly after the blast, which might seemingly improve her reputation, the journalist mentioned.
The variety of victims stays unclear.
Foad Izadi, professor of worldwide relations on the College of Tehran, mentioned he feared there can be “a number of casualties” from the assault. “It’s an enormous constructing,” he advised Al Jazeera. “Iran’s information channel is situated on the primary flooring. It has 4 flooring, and on each flooring, you might have at the very least 200 to 300 individuals working.”
Izadi mentioned he anticipated the assault to spark worldwide outrage and be condemned by worldwide media retailers.
The Israeli army confirmed in an announcement that it has bombed the constructing of Iran’s state broadcaster in Tehran. “This centre was utilized by the armed forces to advertise army operations underneath civilian cowl, whereas utilizing its personal means and property,” it mentioned, with out giving any proof for its accusations.
Israel has a historical past of attacking media organisations and journalists, most just lately in Gaza.
In October, it focused Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar TV studios in southern Beirut throughout a wave of strikes on Lebanon.
In Could 2021, it targeted and destroyed the 11-storey al-Jalaa building in Gaza Metropolis, housing Al Jazeera and The Related Press.
Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian American Al Jazeera journalist, was killed by Israeli forces in Could 2022 in Jenin within the occupied West Financial institution. She was a veteran tv correspondent who grew to become a family title throughout the Arab world for her daring protection of the Israeli-Palestinian battle.
