"Their aim is silence — ours is truth"

Progressive International

25 Jun 2025

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