A Journalist in Iran Tells Voice of America: Threats of 'Murder and Rape' Against Recently Released Journalists

A journalist inside Iran, who has faced pressure, summons, and interrogation after the nationwide protests of 2022, responded to questions from the Persian section of Voice of America regarding the state of media and journalists following the death of Mahsa Amini. To protect this journalist's safety, Voice of America refrains from mentioning their name. They state, 'Pressures on the media in Iran have intensified significantly,' and the Islamic Republic's expectation from the media is 'to produce propaganda bulletins,' while 'critical analyses' are pressured under vague titles like 'blackening.' The following text summarizes this interview and responses to questions about the state of journalism in Iran after September 2022, and their experiences of summons, threats, and arrests of themselves and their colleagues: Pressures on the media in Iran have intensified significantly, and it seems that the pillars of the Islamic Republic expect the media to produce propaganda bulletins. The smallest reports and critical analyses are not tolerated and are pressured under the non-legal and vague title of 'blackening.' Recently, Ahmad Zeidabadi, a member of the editorial board of the Ham-Mihan newspaper, noted that media managers have been constantly in the corridors of the prosecutor's office in recent months, with most of these complaints and cases originating from the IRGC's intelligence. The government also constantly sends long responses to the media and almost denies all analytical and critical reports. Furthermore, the government has been holding secret meetings with media managers and has set new red lines. For instance, they have warned the media to exercise caution when writing about the chain poisoning of schoolgirls and to focus more on the official statements of organizations. Media outlets have been prohibited from independent field and investigative reporting. Journalists who went to schools to cover the chain poisoning of students have sometimes been forcibly removed by plainclothes agents, their press cards confiscated, and they have faced the stress of potential arrest. Media outlets are also prohibited from interviewing the families of detainees and victims of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, and journalists who have written in this regard have often been arrested and released on heavy bail. Currently, writing about 'optional hijab' has become one of these media red lines, and they are forced to write very cautiously and with censorship of the real opinions of the Iranian people. Even writing about internet disruptions has been one of the issues that has put pressure on journalists during interrogations, and this issue was repeatedly mentioned in my own interrogations. On the other hand, journalists who have recently faced arrest or summons are constantly subjected to online harassment, with accounts affiliated with security agencies continuously insulting these journalists or threatening them and their families with murder and rape, or attempting to tarnish journalists' reputations with baseless claims and sow doubt among their audiences. Recently, journalists who wrote about optional hijab or published photos of themselves without hijab have been continuously requested by government affiliates for security and judicial agencies to take action against those journalists. Saki Laghai has been a journalist since 1999 and has served as a parliamentary and economic editor at ISNA. Since 2006, she has focused on Iranian issues and human rights and joined the Persian section of Voice of America in spring 2021. Following the summons of journalist Hassan Abbasi to the cyber police: 'If being a journalist is a crime, then shut down the media.' The pressure on the media community continues; three female journalists have been summoned to court. Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi have been accused of 'collaborating with America.' The International Federation of Journalists has called for the release of Keyvan Samimi and other imprisoned journalists. 200 days of detention for the crime of informing; Ham-Mihan: Journalists are not spies.