A Journalist in Iran to Voice of America: Government Abuse and Humiliation of Journalists is 'Systematic'

Following the 'beating' of a journalist by the guards of Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic, a journalist in Iran told Voice of America that humiliating encounters are not new and that journalists in Iran face 'systematic' harassment. A journalist inside Iran, who requested anonymity for security reasons, spoke on Wednesday, June 10, in an interview with the Persian section of Voice of America, referring to the beating of 'Amin Mehravari', a journalist from ILNA, by Hassan Khomeini's guards, stating that such encounters with journalists have been 'frequent'. He mentioned incidents such as the breaking of the finger of Faezah Momeni, a city journalist, by a security officer from the Ministry of Health, and 'the beating of a journalist by Nader Qazipour', a former member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, as well as 'the microphone being pulled from a journalist's hand by Abbas Akhundi', the former Minister of Housing and Urban Development. He emphasized that the violent treatment of journalists by the Islamic Republic's officials is not limited to these incidents, citing other examples such as 'Ali-Asghar Anabestani', a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, slapping a conscript soldier, 'Hamid Rasai's vulgar insults to celebrities', and 'Hassan Norouzi, a member of the National Security Commission of the Parliament, insulting the families of those killed in the November 2019 protests for justice'. This journalist questioned, 'Do managers in other countries really insult people and journalists so easily?' and added, 'This humiliation of the people, journalists, and celebrities is very painful.' He further stated, 'The regime's [Islamic Republic's] humiliating behavior towards journalists and media is not limited to repression and censorship; journalists face various forms of systematic online harassment, generally perpetrated by organizations under the guise of cyber brigades.' This journalist noted, 'It seems that the suppression of journalists, their humiliation, and degradation in social media is part of the duties of these organizations.' He added, 'Moreover, in Iranian media, we face a phenomenon where security institutions order media managers to dismiss journalists.' According to this journalist, 'In addition, these responsible institutions frequently boycott independent journalists and do not allow them to attend press conferences or require them to submit questions in advance, and sometimes they do not allow questions to be asked spontaneously; if journalists persist, they may be expelled from sessions and insulted,' and 'in some cases, journalists are beaten.' This journalist told Voice of America, 'Sometimes the tone of the responses from government institutions to journalists' reports is very insulting and abusive, which is more evident in the responses of Raisi's government to the media.' The guards of Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic, beat a journalist on Tuesday, June 9, who wanted to take pictures at the first anniversary ceremony of the death of Mahmoud Dowai, an Iranian cleric and politician, and confiscated his mobile phone. In response, an official from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance asked Hassan Khomeini to 'apologize' to the mentioned journalist. Following this incident, Hassan Khomeini expressed 'regret' in a letter to Amin Mehravari about the 'sad story of yesterday'.