An Anonymous Iranian Reporter on Life in Tehran

In late June, amid Israel and Iran’s twelve-day exchange of air strikes and rockets, Iranian authorities detained the family of a journalist who was covering the conflict from abroad. The reporter, whose name was not released by the outlet they worked for, a London-based Farsi broadcast news channel called Iran International, said they received a phone call from their father, who urged them to resign, with the voices of security agents audible in the background. In a statement, the channel said the arrests marked “a dangerous escalation in the regime’s ruthless campaign to silence dissent and suppress independent journalism.”

For journalists who cover Iran, this kind of tactic is nothing new—although the risks appear to be escalating. Earlier this month, Iran’s parliament approved legislation that would impose prison sentences of up to five years for sending images to foreign media outlets—a punishment that could be upped to twenty-five years during times of war. Another recent bill prohibits the sharing of anything deemed “false information” on social media. Several reporters working for official outlets have been warned to limit what they post online or face repercussions, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.