Iran Archives - Committee to Protect Journalists

Iran arrests 2 female environmental journalists in mass raids

November 14, 2023 1:53 PM EST

Washington, D.C., November 14, 2023—Iranian authorities must immediately release journalists Nasim Tavafzadeh and Helaleh Nategheh and stop trying to silence journalists by jailing them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Saturday, intelligence agents with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps arrested Tavafzadeh, editor-in-chief of the local news website Moroor.org, and Nategheh, an environmental reporter…

Killings of journalists rise as reprisal murders more than double in 2020

December 22, 2020 12:01 AM EST

New York, December 22, 2020 –The number of journalists singled out for murder in reprisal for their work more than doubled this year, leading to a rise in overall work-related killings, CPJ found in a report released today. Globally, at least 30 journalists were killed on duty in 2020, including 21 reprisal murders, up from…

Iran detains freelance photographer and culture reporter Nooshin Jafari

August 12, 2019 4:56 PM EDT

Washington, D.C., August 12, 2019–Iranian authorities arrested Nooshin Jafari, a photojournalist and culture reporter, outside her home in Tehran on August 3 as she was on her way to work. Jafari, a cinema and theater photographer who reports on culture for several Iranian magazines, was taken to an unknown location, according to news reports. Authorities…

A protester uses his cell phone to film at a demonstration in Basra in January. Militias and Iraqi security forces are attacking and detaining journalists who cover protests in the city. (AFP/Hussein Faleh)

Iraqi militias use threats, violence to keep Basra press in line

February 19, 2019 1:43 PM EST

“You work against us. In your work, you criticize militias. We watched your videos and you talk against us. You will pay the price for it,” an anonymous voice said on the other end of the line to freelance reporter Azhar Al-Rubaie.

Iranian motorists drive past the Azadi Tower in the capital Tehran in January 2018. Iranian security forces on February 19 arrested Reza Entessari and Kasra Nouri, reporters with the Sufi news website Majzooban-e-Noor, while they were covering the violent dispersal of religious protests in Tehran, according to news reports. (AFP/Atta Kenare)

Iran arrests two journalists covering crackdown on religious protests

March 1, 2018 9:35 AM EST

New York, March 1, 2018–Iranian security forces on February 19 arrested Reza Entessari and Kasra Nouri, reporters with the Sufi news website Majzooban-e-Noor, while they were covering the violent dispersal of religious protests in Tehran, according to their employer and the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

News outlets targeted in Iran amid run-up to elections

June 10, 2013 5:26 PM EDT

New York, June 10, 2013–The Iranian government is attempting to deprive Iranian citizens of meaningful news coverage by blocking several news websites in the run-up to the country’s presidential elections on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

CPJ alarmed by Iran’s escalating anti-press actions

January 30, 2013 4:26 PM EST

New York, January 30, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest of a another journalist as part of Iran’s declared intent to expand a crackdown on the media.

Iran steps up its campaign against the press

October 3, 2012 5:14 PM EDT

New York, October 3, 2012–In a flurry of new anti-press actions in Iran, a jury has voted to convict a Reuters bureau chief on anti-state charges while authorities have jailed the head of the state’s official news agency, blocked Google services, and shut one reformist newspaper.