By Sharon Zhang / Truthout
Israel bombed the Iranian state TV building in Tehran during a live broadcast on Monday, seemingly devastating the building as Israeli military officials falsely touted attacks on military targets.
A recording of the live broadcast shows the broadcaster, Sahar Emani, talking when suddenly there is an extremely loud, sustained explosion. The background goes dark as the broadcaster quickly exits the frame, and there is a large cloud of dust and debris falling on the set. The broadcast then went dark, but resumed a few minutes later..
It’s unclear how many workers inside were killed or injured. Initial reports from Iranian journalists say numerous people were killed, as many journalists had stayed inside the building to continue reporting on the war after Israel had ordered the building and other parts of Tehran to be evacuated.
Videos of the broadcaster’s multistory complex show the building ablaze with a massive fire.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that Israel bombed the broadcaster in a post on social media. Ahead of the strike, the Israeli military had said that it was targeting “military targets” in Tehran, while Katz had touted that Israel was attacking the “Iranian propaganda and incitement mouthpiece.”
International law bars militaries from targeting journalists in war. Even so, Israel has attacked journalists relentlessly for decades, and has made Gaza the most dangerous place on earth for journalists, killing over 230 in Gaza over the course of its current genocide.
The attack undercuts Israel’s claims that their primary goal in the war is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Other statements, like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s open threats to assassinate Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also demonstrate Israel’s wider goals of devastation.
On Monday morning, Katz had issued a direct threat to civilians in Iran, saying, “The residents of Tehran will pay the price, and soon.” After backlash, Katz hastily walked back the statement, saying “there is no intention to physically harm the residents of Tehran” — before the military bombed the Iranian state media while broadcasters were live in the studio.
“Calling someone a mouthpiece doesn’t give you permission to kill them,” Foad Izadi, University of Tehran professor of international relations, told Al Jazeera. Izadi said the building is “huge,” with hundreds of people working on each of the building’s four floors.
Ahead of the bombing, Iranian health officials reported that at least 224 people had been killed and over 1,200 injured by Israeli strikes in Iran since Friday. Netanyahu’s office said that 24 people have been killed in Israel.
“Whether it is bombing refugees in tents, journalists on the ground in Gaza, state media in Iran or apartment buildings in Tehran, the Israeli government is completely out of control and unleashing chaos, death and destruction in its wake,” Etan Mabourakh, organizing manager for the National Iranian American Council, said in a statement to Truthout.
“The U.S. should want no part of this war of aggression, and needs to push to end it before it gets drawn in. Trump can spare innocent Israeli and Iranian lives and end this war, but he must do so before it is too late,” Mabourakh said.
Israel has claimed to be only striking military and nuclear targets, but its evacuation orders have targeted numerous civilian areas of Tehran. In response, the Iranian military issued a warning for Israeli residents of Tel Aviv to evacuate.
Earlier that day, Israel’s defense minister had threatened civilians, saying “residents of Tehran will pay the price, and soon.”Social media videos over the weekend have shown numerous Iranian missiles finding their targets on the ground in Israel, evading Israel’s defense systems like the Iron Dome and David’s Sling, as well as the U.S.’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system that was installed in Israel last year.
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Sharon Zhang
Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering politics, climate and labor. Before coming to Truthout, Sharon had written stories for Pacific Standard, The New Republic, and more. She has a master’s degree in environmental studies. She can be found on Twitter: @zhang_sharon.
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