An explosion rocked the Iranian news station where popular news anchor Sahar Emami was broadcasting live during Israel’s ongoing fighting with Iran on Monday.
Emami was denouncing Israel’s “aggression against the homeland” when a blast was heard and the screen behind her shook and went dark.
The state-run Islamic Republic of Iran News Network said its studio was hit by four bombs. Israel immediately took credit for the strike on Iran’s “propaganda and incitement” facility.
Monday’s broadcast briefly cut to pre-recorded programming before Emani returned to the airwaves live from a different studio, where she was joined by another anchor.
A spokesman for Iran’s foreign minister denounced the attack on the news outlet as a “wicked act of war crime” on social media, where he called for the United Nations Security council to intervene.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said it was “appalled” Israeli Defense Forces would target a media outlet while a live program was taking place. Another reporter with the Iranian network said on Instagram he didn’t know how many of his colleagues were injured —or worse — as a large building burned in the background.
According to the U.N. and CPJ records, more than 170 reporters or workers have been killed in Gaza, where Israeli troops took action after Hamas terrorists slaughtered 1,200 people in Israel in October 2023.
Israel and Iran have been exchanging aerial attacks since the Israeli forces targeted Iranian nuclear development sites and officials tied to its atomic power program Friday. At least 224 people are believe to have been killed in that offensive.
Iran said it launched 100 missiles toward Israel, where officials said 24 people people were killed and several hundred were injured.
Israel warned an an hour before it’s Monday strike on the news studio that people in central Tehran, where the facility is located, should go elsewhere. Roughly 330,000 people call that area home.
President Trump warned “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” on Truth Social Monday night.
With News Wire Services
