Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

"Their aim is silence — ours is truth"
Progressive International
25 Jun 2025
🖨️ Print Article
IRIB

Statement from the Sovereign Media collective, a new coalition of anti-imperialist media organizations, on the Israeli regime's assault on journalists from Palestine to Iran.

Originally published in Progressive International.

We, the members of the Sovereign Media collective, unequivocally condemn the Zionist regime's latest escalation in its war on journalism: the targeted bombing of Iran's state broadcaster, IRIB, in central Tehran on 16 June 2025.

This calculated assault killed two media workers — Nima Rajabpour, a news editor at IRIB's Khabar channel, and Masoumeh Azimi, a secretariat staff — during a live broadcast, marking a direct attack on press freedom and the public's right to information. Moments before the airstrike, Israel's so-called Defense Minister openly threatened to "disappear" Iran's state broadcaster, and issued an evacuation warning for Tehran's Third District, indicating foreknowledge and intent.

Israel's attack is part of a broader campaign. Since 13 June, at least four Iranian journalists and media workers have been killed by US-backed Israeli airstrikes. Fereshteh Bagheri, a reporter for Defa Press, was killed when a strike targeted her family home in Tehran. Saleh Bayrami, a graphic designer, was killed two days later while crossing a city intersection. These deaths are not incidental — they are the latest acts in a deliberate strategy to eliminate those documenting Israeli war crimes.

From Iran to Palestine, this pattern is unmistakable. According to the Palestinian Journalists Protection Center (PJPC), at least 227 Palestinian journalists have been slaughtered in Gaza since October 2023 — five of them since the start of June. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that 2024 was the deadliest year for journalists on record, with 124 journalists and media workers killed globally. Two-thirds of them were Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza.

The attack on IRIB, like the ongoing slaughter of Palestinian journalists, reflects a clear strategy: to destroy the media infrastructure, silence witnesses, and obscure war crimes. These are not just attacks on buildings or individuals — they are assaults on the people's sovereign right to report and document what is happening to their people.

Even under fire, voices remain defiant. Anchor Sahar Emami, on air during the IRIB strike, maintained her composure and resumed the broadcast amid the chaos — a symbol of the unyielding power of resistance journalism. We stand in solidarity with all journalists and truth-tellers who are under attack. We condemn this systematic targeting of media workers by the Zionist regime and its backers. We reaffirm our commitment to exposing the machinery of imperialism in West Asia and across the world. Their aim is silence — ours is to ensure these stories are heard.

SIGNATORIES

  • African Stream
  • Black Agenda Report
  • Kawsachun News
  • Orinoco Tribune
  • Qiao Collective
  • Venezuelanalysis
Iran
Journalism
Israel

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Belen Fernandez
Israel’s Lebanese Land Grab
21 October 2026
Under the guise of a farcical “pilot zone” project to restore Lebanon’s sovereignty, Israel is pursuing a scorched-earth strategy whi
Gerald Perreira
October 7, 2023: The day that changed the world
21 October 2026
October 7, 2023, was not an isolated attack, but the culmination of generations of Palestinian imprisonment and resistance in Gaza, comparable
Edward Rhymes
What Changes For Palestine?
21 October 2026
Disregard for Palestinian rights is a feature of Israeli politics rather than a bug.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
An open letter to the honorable people of the United States of America
07 October 2026
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has issued a letter addressed to the American people, outlining its views on recent developments a
Dr. M. Reza Behnam
Three Years of Genocide: How ‘Never Again’ Lost Meaning in Gaza
07 October 2026
If international law and justice are buried in the rubble of Gaza, the global community will ultimately be digging its own grave.
Sami Al-Arian
Why Hamas believed the status quo was more dangerous than its 7 October gamble
07 October 2026
Three years into Israel's genocide in Gaza, the consequences of a decision driven by siege, settlement expansion, and assaults on Al-Aqsa are s
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Defending a Non-Existent International Law
30 September 2026
The Hague Group’s goal is to “. . .
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The U.S. Determination to Achieve Full Spectrum Dominance is Not In Decline
23 September 2026
The trope of the United States being in a state of decline is a common one, but it should not be accepted without scrutiny. The U.S.
Jacqueline Luqman
The Perfect Victim Narrative Applied To Foreign Policy Only Keeps U.S. Imperialism Alive
23 September 2026
The demand to call out alleged crimes in Iran or Cuba while those countries face annihilation from the U.S.
Roberta Rivolta
Western Activism and the Axis of Resistance
23 September 2026
Western pro-Palestinian activism isolates Palestine from its regional allies, depoliticizing its struggle and reinforcing colonial

More Stories


  • Coronavirus and the Politics of Disposability
    Shaun Ossei-Owusu
    Coronavirus and the Politics of Disposability
    06 May 2020
    When the dust settles, as in all U.S. disasters, there will be a tale to tell of who mattered and who was sacrificed.
  • The Makings of A Capitalist Dystopia
    Erica Caines
    The Makings of A Capitalist Dystopia
    06 May 2020
    Colonized people, with a horrific historical connection to both science and medicine in this country, must examine science in service of the state.
  • US Prisons Are Vectors of Disease
    Sarah Lustbader
    US Prisons Are Vectors of Disease
    06 May 2020
    The penal system remains a source of diseases that spread among prisoners at rates far exceeding those in the communities from which they came.
  • BAR Book Forum: Joshua Dubler and Vincent Lloyd’s “Break Every Yoke”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Joshua Dubler and Vincent Lloyd’s “Break Every Yoke”
    06 May 2020
    The necessary political demand is not  that we make better, more humane prisons and jails, but that we abolish prisons and jails altogether.
  • BAR Book Forum: Symposium on Sarah Haley’s "No Mercy Here"
    Marisa Fuentes
    BAR Book Forum: Symposium on Sarah Haley’s "No Mercy Here"
    06 May 2020
    This is a book about the ideological construction of black women as “non-human” and exploitable for capitalist profit in the making of the New South.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us