Tehran, May 4 – On World Press Freedom Day, Iran sharply criticized Israel for what it described as the systematic targeting and killing of Palestinian journalists in Gaza. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei made the remarks in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), condemning what he called “colonial genocide” and placing blame squarely on the shoulders of Israel and its Western backers.
Baghaei honored the more than 200 media workers reportedly killed since the beginning of Israel’s military campaign, calling them martyrs who “risked their lives to expose the brutality of colonial genocide.” He emphasized that the slain journalists were deliberately targeted for revealing the realities of life under siege.
“These journalists were targeted because they felt obliged to document the extreme pain and suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and broadcast the atrocities of the apartheid occupying regime,” Baghaei wrote. “The United States and other supporters, enablers, and apologists of Israeli atrocities are complicit in those heinous crimes.”
The statement echoed a growing chorus of international outrage as the death toll among journalists in Gaza continues to climb. Human rights organizations and press freedom advocates have repeatedly warned of what they describe as a deliberate effort to silence reporting on the ground.
In a separate statement, the Palestinian resistance group Hamas accused Israel of intentionally targeting media workers out of fear of exposure. “The occupation’s continued crimes against media professionals reveal the extent of its terror over the media’s role in exposing its crimes and aggression against our people,” the group declared.
The United Nations also weighed in. Ajith Sunghay, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, stated that Gaza has become “one of the deadliest places in the world for journalists.” His remarks reflect the growing alarm within the international community over the dangers faced by journalists in conflict zones.
As the world observed World Press Freedom Day, calls for accountability intensified. Critics argue that the ongoing violence against journalists not only threatens the fundamental right to information but also highlights the complicity of powerful states in enabling such actions through military and diplomatic support.
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