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Israel has attacked the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB and interrupted a live broadcast with an explosion, marking another escalation in the conflict<\/span> with Tehran and replicating its previous attacks on news media targets in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon.<\/p>\n TV anchor Sahar Emami denounced Monday\u2019s \u201caggression against the homeland\u201d and the \u201ctruth\u201d as a blast went off and smoke and debris filled the screen. The footage then showed her fleeing the studio as a voice is heard calling, \u201cGod is greatest.\u201d<\/p>\n The attack came shortly after the Israeli military issued a threat for Tehran\u2019s District Three, where IRIB\u2019s headquarters is located, and Defence Minister Israel Katz said: \u201cThe Iranian propaganda and incitement mouthpiece is on its way to disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei accused Israel of committing a \u201cwicked act\u201d that constitutes a war crime and of being the number one \u201ckiller of journalists and media people\u201d.<\/p>\n The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has counted 178 journalists killed in Gaza by Israel since October 2023, making it the deadliest conflict <\/span>for media workers ever recorded.<\/p>\n \u201cThe UNSC [United Nations Security Council] must act now to stop the genocidal aggressor from committing further atrocities against our people,\u201d Baghaei wrote on X.<\/p>\n The CPJ said it was \u201cappalled\u201d by Israel\u2019s attack on Iranian state TV and argued impunity for the killings of Palestinian journalists had \u201cemboldened\u201d the country to target media elsewhere. \u201cThis bloodshed must end now,\u201d the organisation said on X.<\/p>\n Peyman Jebelli, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), said the organisation\u2019s headquarters was attacked because the Iranian media are \u201cprecisely targeting the depth of the enemy\u2019s media strategy\u201d.<\/p>\n In a statement quoted by the semiofficial Mehr News Agency, he said employees at the national media outlet \u201cloudly declare\u201d their determination to play their roles in the \u201chybrid war\u201d initiated by Israel.<\/p>\n Iranian journalist Younes Shadlou said many of his colleagues were inside the building when the Israeli attack happened. \u201cI don\u2019t know how many of my colleagues are still inside right now,\u201d he reported from outside the burning building in Tehran<\/p>\n \u201cWe had been given evacuation warnings, but everyone stayed until the very last moment to show the true face of the Zionist regime to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Al Jazeera\u2019s Dorsa Jabbari said the strike was highly symbolic because it targeted an entity with close links to the Iranian government. \u201cThe head of the network is appointed by the supreme leader directly, so it is a significant part of the establishment,\u201d Jabbari said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is going to be a great shock for the Iranian people,\u201d she continued. The station is located in a large, fortified complex that has a long history dating back to the 1940s. The channel is the most watched inside Iran, and Emami is a renowned anchor.<\/p>\n The attack should, therefore, be seen as \u201ca huge message for Iran and the general public and [it] is going to create all kinds of fears\u201d, Jabbari said.<\/p>\n Al Jazeera\u2019s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said Israel targeted a glass building known as the IRIB\u2019s central building. The live broadcast was briefly disrupted, but Emami went back on TV shortly after the blast, which would likely increase her popularity, the journalist said.<\/p>\n The number of victims remains unclear.<\/p>\n Foad Izadi, professor of international relations at the University of Tehran, said he feared there would be \u201ca lot of casualties\u201d from the attack. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge building,\u201d he told Al Jazeera. \u201cIran\u2019s news channel is located on the first floor. It has four floors, and on every floor, you have at least 200 to 300 people working.\u201d<\/p>\n Izadi said he expected the attack to spark international outrage and be condemned by international media outlets.<\/p>\n The Israeli military confirmed in a statement that it has bombed the building of Iran\u2019s state broadcaster in Tehran. \u201cThis centre was used by the armed forces to promote military operations under civilian cover, while using its own means and assets,\u201d it said, without giving any evidence for its accusations.<\/p>\n Israel has a history of attacking media organisations and journalists, most recently in Gaza.<\/p>\n In October, it targeted Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar TV studios in southern Beirut during a wave of strikes on Lebanon.<\/p>\n In May 2021, it targeted and destroyed the 11-storey al-Jalaa building<\/span> in Gaza City, housing Al Jazeera and The Associated Press.<\/p>\n Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian American Al Jazeera journalist, was killed by Israeli forces<\/span> in May 2022 in Jenin in the occupied West Bank. She was a veteran television correspondent who became a household name across the Arab world for her bold coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n