Israel carries out strike on Iran’s national TV

Tehran, Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), June 17: The Israeli regime has attacked the headquarters of Iran’s national television, known as the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

The headquarters were attacked on Monday. Live programming was briefly halted at the IRIB News Network but returned to normal a few minutes afterwards.

An Iranian news anchor was seen keeping composed on air as the studio she was in came under attack.

It was not immediately clear if and how many personnel had been wounded or killed.

Shortly afterwards, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said in a post on his X account that the Israeli attack on national television was a war crime.

“Israeli regime is the biggest enemy of truth and the No.1 killer of journalists and media people,” he said.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) also in a statement on Monday condemned the Israeli strike on the television headquarters and said it showed that the enemy’s media strategy had been defeated by the Iranian media.

The United Nations Security Council “must act now to stop the genocidal aggressor from committing further atrocities against our people,” Baqaei said.

The Israeli regime began strikes inside Iranian territory, including on residential buildings, in an unprovoked act of aggression overnight on June 13. Top Iranian military officials were assassinated in targeted strikes. Civilians died when houses were directly struck. Entire population centers were affected.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei appointed new military commanders later that same day and said life would turn bleak for Israel. Shortly afterwards, Iran began punitive strikes deep inside Israel, hitting Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa, among other targets, with ballistic missiles and drones. Life has come to a halt in the occupied territories as Israelis have been spending entire days in underground bomb shelters.

Iranian officials have said the mission will continue as long as necessary.

Waves of Iranian strikes have been hitting targets deep inside Israel since then. Despite heavy Israeli censorship, abundant footage has appeared of the Iranian missiles hitting their targets in precision strikes.