The London-based Persian-language broadcaster Iran International has accused the Iranian government of abducting the family of one of its journalists in retaliation for the network’s coverage of the ongoing war between Iran and Israel.
Iran International, in a statement, described the incident as “an appalling act of hostage-taking aimed at coercing our colleague into resigning from their post.”
“This deeply reprehensible tactic marks a dangerous escalation in the regime’s ruthless campaign to silence dissent and suppress independent journalism,” the outlet said.
According to the network, members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) detained the journalist’s mother, father, and younger brother, taking them to an undisclosed location.
Shortly after, the journalist, whose identity has been withheld for security reasons, received a phone call from her father, during which IRGC agents could be heard dictating his words.
“I’ve told you a thousand times to resign. What other consequences do you expect? You have to resign,” the father was quoted as saying in the call.
The act appears to be part of a wider campaign by Iranian authorities to pressure foreign-based Iranian journalists by targeting their relatives at home.
Iran has long been one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), with strict restrictions and increasing repression facing media workers both inside and outside the country.
Iran International, which has faced threats from Tehran in the past, has called on international human rights bodies and press freedom organizations to condemn what it labeled “a hostage situation” and to take urgent action to protect journalists and their families.
