Press freedom violations in the Middle East during the Iran war

The Committee to Protect Journalists is monitoring the impact of the current military escalation between Israel, the U.S and Iran and its spillover across the Middle East on journalists and media workers. 

Since the Iran war broke out on February 28, when the U.S and Israel launched strikes on Iran and Tehran retaliated with attacks across the region, CPJ has documented arrests of journalists, interference with reporting, airstrikes damaging media infrastructure, and sweeping restrictions on coverage.

“CPJ calls on all parties to this war to respect the rights and safety of members of the press,” said Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Press freedom is a fundamental human right, and attacks, detentions or restrictions targeting journalists must stop immediately.” 

CPJ is tracking press freedom conditions in Iran, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory (IoPT), Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain.

Below is a developing timeline of incidents affecting journalists and the media:

February 28, 2026, Day 1  — Internet blackout as war breaks out; strike on Radio Dezful   

• Within hours of U.S.-Israel strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior officials, Iranian authorities shut down internet access nationwide – a tactic repeatedly used by the government, including in January during the mass protests. Connectivity fell to about 4% of normal levels on the first day of the conflict, and later to around one 1%, according to NetBlocks, leaving most of the country offline. A number of journalists told CPJ the blackout has severely hindered reporting and communication, while only a small number of users, including some media linked to the government, retained limited access through the restricted “white internet.” 
• The same day, Israeli airstrikes targeted the offices of state-run Radio Dezful in Khuzestan province were targeted by Israeli airstrikes. No casualties were reported.

March 1, 2026, Day 2 — Iranian state broadcaster hit

• Iran’s state-run broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) reported that parts of the organization’s headquarters in Tehran were attacked by the United States and Israel in airstrikes. No casualties were reported.

March 2, 2026, Day 3 — Israel hits three Lebanon media outlets; UAE blocks press X accounts

• In Lebanon, where the fighting quickly expanded to, Israeli strikes hit three media facilities in Lebanon: Sawt Al-Farrah Radio local radio in Tyre, as well as Hezbollah affiliated outlets Al-Nour Radio, and the Al-Manar TV building in Haret Hreik, south of Beirut. It was not immediately clear whether members of the press were injured in the attacks.
• The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ordered residents to evacuate parts of Tehran, including where Evin prison is located, raising concerns about the safety of imprisoned journalists. According to CPJ’s data, at least 15 journalists remain jailed in Iran. Three of them — Reza Valizadeh, Shinnosuke Kawashima, and Mohammad Zare-Foumani — are held in Evin Prison.
• In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the public prosecutor issued a decree blocking access to several X accounts within the country. Among the accounts affected were those of Saudi state-owned channel Al Arabiya, Saudi journalist Malek Al-Rougui, and Algerian journalist Ahmed Hafsi.  

March 3, 2026, Day 4 — Journalists detained during live broadcast; Iranian state media area struck again

• CNN Türk correspondent Emrah Çakmak and camera operator Halil Kahraman were detained by Israeli security forces during a live broadcast from Tel Aviv following Iranian missile strikes on the city. A video published online shows officers halting the transmission. The journalists were taken into custody, and their phones, camera and microphone were confiscated. The journalists later told CPJ they had not regained access to their equipment at the time of reporting. Çakmak said Israeli authorities accessed his password-protected phone without his consent.
• Israel’s Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir and Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi announced stricter enforcement measures against foreign media during the ongoing military operation. Officials said authorities would adopt a “zero tolerance” policy toward violations of military censorship rules, including detaining and arresting journalists suspected of broadcasting information that could endanger operational security.
• Israel struck the area around the headquarters of Iran’s state broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), in Tehran. The IDF said it destroyed a communications center it alleged was used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for military purposes. No casualties were immediately reported.
• Jordan’s Media Commission banned publishing videos or information related to the kingdom’s “defensive operations,” effectively limiting reporting to official updates from military and public security media. Similar restrictions were imposed in Saudi Arabia  and Kuwait.

March 4, 2026, Day 5 — Turkish journalists detained at Israel border crossing

• Israeli officials detained Turkish journalists İlyas Efe Ünal, the editor-in-chief of Turkish government-affiliated outlet En Son Haber, and Adem Metan while crossing from Egypt to Israel. Metan later said on social media that both journalists were released after approximately six hours of questioning.

March 5, 2026, Day 6 — Reporting disrupted across Israel and Lebanon

• Israeli municipal police in Haifa attempted to disperse several international news crews, including CNN, Fox News, the BBC,  Turkish-owned Anadolu News Agency, and Al-Arabiya TV, among others, while reporting. Marwan Athamneh, an Al Arabiya reporter, and Samir Abdul-Hadi, an Anadolu Agency correspondent, told CPJ that officers ordered them to leave despite complying with military censorship guidelines. Journalists said a police spokesperson told them there was no legal basis for dispersing the press, but additional patrol units later repeated the orders.
• An airstrike hit the building of Kurdistan Network Television in Iran’s Sannadaj city, the Kurdish-language channel that is run by the state-run IRIB. No casualties were reported.
• The Union of Journalists in Lebanon told CPJ that Alian Dergham, a correspondent for MTV-Lebanon, was physically assaulted by a group of men in the northern Lebanese city of Batroun while conducting an interview. 
• Three U.S freelance journalists – Nicholas Frakes, Hunter Williamson  and Daniel Carde – told CPJ they were harassed and assaulted while covering residents fleeing from Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut. They told CPJ that individuals asked them not to film as soon as they were seen, attempting to seize their equipment and physically push them away.  “I was severely beaten and my press vest was taken from me,” Williamson said, “before the Lebanese army intervened and pulled us to safety and returned our belongings.”  
• In Qatar, the interior ministry warned the public against gathering at incident sites, heading toward such locations, or photographing and sharing content related to field developments, as this may result in legal accountability.

March 6, 2026, Day 7 — Threats against Lebanese journalist; new  reporting restrictions

• Lebanese journalist Ghada Eid posted on Facebook and X that she has been receiving death threats via social media and phone from what she believes are Hezbollah supporters, since March 5, 2026. Eid said that she will undergo legal proceedings against those that threatened her.
• Israeli strike on the headquarters of Al-Saksakiyah media outlet in the town of Al-Saksakiyah in southern Lebanon. In Iran, parts of the pro-reformist Tehran-based Sazandegi newspaper building were also damaged due to U.S. and Israeli airstrikes. No staff were injured as the incident occurred outside working hours.
• The United Arab Emirates warned citizens and residents against photographing, filming, publishing, or circulating images and videos of incident sites or damage resulting from the Iranian attacks. Violating this warning can lead to up to one year of imprisonment and financial fines under UAE law. Bahrain echoed similar warnings.

March 7, 2026, Day 8 — Journalist killed in Iran

• Masoud Salimi, Iranian journalist and former director of the Tasnim News Agency bureau in Qom, was killed in a U.S.-Israeli strike on the Iranian city of Qom, according to the agency. This marks the first known case of a killed journalist since the war started in the region. CPJ is still investigating his killing for further information.
• The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Department of Media and Information introduced special regulations and restrictions for domestic and foreign media outlets, digital platforms, and social media users prohibiting broadcasting live footage showing the direction of drones or missiles or revealing the precise locations of impacted sites, and specifying how to handle citizen-submitted content.

March 8, 2026, Day 9 — Journalist blocked from reporting in Haifa

• Al Araby TV journalist Abdel Qader Abdel Halim was prevented from reporting by Israeli municipal police in Haifa. In a video reviewed by CPJ, an officer can be heard telling the journalists that “filming is prohibited in Haifa.”. Abdel Halim told CPJ that he was forced to leave the scene.
  

March 9, 2026, Day 10 — Palestinian journalist killed in Gaza

• In central Gaza, an Israeli strike on tents housing displaced people killed Palestinian journalist Amal Shamaly, a correspondent for Qatar Radio. In response to an email request for comment, the IDF told CPJ it “did not conduct a strike in the given location and date.”

March 10, 2026, Day 11 — Iran expands legal crackdown on war reporting

• Iran’s judiciary has criminalized “any filming or reporting” of U.S. or Israeli strikes on Iranian positions as evidence of “cooperation with a hostile enemy,” according to the judiciary-affiliated Mizan News Agency.  

This timeline will be updated as CPJ gathers additional information.

If you are a journalist covering these developments and experiencing threats, censorship, detention, or violence related to your work, contact CPJ on [email protected].