The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said on Wednesday that Iran remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for independent reporters, detailing a pattern of threats, surveillance, arbitrary arrests and prosecutions targeting media workers this year.
“Locking up independent journalists is a critical part of the Islamic Republic’s strategy to silence dissent and hold onto power,” CHRI Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi said, urging the UN, governments and international media groups to press for the release of imprisoned journalists and the protection of press freedom.
“The international community should speak out for the individuals in Iran sacrificing their livelihoods and often their freedom to speak truth to power,” he added.
Citing Reporters Without Borders data, CHRI said that at least 21 journalists are currently detained in Iran and that the country ranks 176th out of 180 on press freedom.
While Article 24 of Iran’s constitution guarantees a free press, CHRI said Iran’s press laws enable repression through charges such as spreading false information, insulting the Supreme Leader, propaganda against the state, and endangering the Islamic Republic.
The group listed recent cases, including summonses and prosecutions of reporters in multiple provinces; a three-month prison sentence for journalist Omid Faraghat on “propaganda” charges; the detention of photojournalists covering the aftermath of Israeli strikes on state broadcaster IRIB; and the August 19 shuttering of the Tehran Journalists’ Trade Association office, which the association called “a blatant assault on professional independence.”
CHRI also highlighted the Intelligence Ministry’s announcement that it summoned or detained 98 people described as “citizen-journalists” over alleged ties to an overseas Persian-language outlet during the June Iran-Israel war, without providing names or legal status.
In an interview published by CHRI, a female journalist described licensing hurdles, pervasive security vetting, and what she called a “mafia-like, state-controlled” media market that forces self-censorship or exile.
In a separate nationwide survey of provincial crackdowns after US and Israeli strikes on Iran, CHRI said at least 58 activists, lawyers and bereaved family members were arbitrarily detained, at least 25 were charged or sentenced, 11 political prisoners faced intensified pressure including denial of medical care, and at least six people were executed on espionage charges.
CHRI said minorities were disproportionately targeted and called for robust international scrutiny and accountability measures.
