Israeli strike on Iranian state TV fills studio with dust and debris during live broadcast

Dust and debris filled an Iranian state television studio and an anchor rushed off camera Monday when an Israeli strike hit during a live broadcast, an hour after Israel issued a warning for the area of Tehran where the station is located.

Sahar Emami, an anchor at the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, was seen hurrying off-camera as the screen behind her cut out. People on set were heard saying “Allahu akbar,” the Arabic phrase for God is great.

The broadcast quickly switched to pre-recorded programs. Soon, Emami came back live from another studio and was seen speaking with another anchor. Images showed smoke and flames in the sky. The station later said that the building was hit by four bombs.

Israel’s defense minister took immediate credit for the attack.

“The Iranian regime’s propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority was attacked by the IDF after a widespread evacuation of the area’s residents,” Israel Katz said in a statement. “We will strike the Iranian dictator everywhere.”

Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesman for the Iranian foreign minister, condemned the strike, calling on the international community to demand justice from Israel for its attack on the media. “The world is watching: targeting Iran’s news agency #IRIB’s office during live broadcast is a wicked act of war crime,” Baqaei wrote on X.

Videos circulating on social media show that the IRINN building, known as “the glass building,” is still burning. There has been no official report on casualties from the incident. An anchor said on air that a few colleagues had been injured, but that their families should not be worried.

The network said its live programs have now been transferred to another studio, which resembles that of radio studios..

An hour earlier, the Israeli military had issued an evacuation warning affecting up to 330,000 people in a part of central Tehran that includes the country’s state TV and police headquarters, as well as three large hospitals. The IDF has issued similar evacuation warnings for civilians in parts of Gaza and Lebanon ahead of strikes.

The warning came on the fourth day of the conflict, when the Israeli military claimed it had achieved air superiority above the Iranian capital and could fly over the city without facing major threats.

Iran, meanwhile, announced it had launched some 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure that have killed at least 224 people in the country since Friday.

So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel and more than 500 injured, Israeli officials said, after Iran launched more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said it was “appalled by Israel’s bombing of Iran’s state TV channel while live on air.”

“Israel’s killing, with impunity, of almost 200 journalists in Gaza has emboldened it to target media elsewhere in the region,” Sara Qudah, the Middle East representative for CPJ, said in a statement.

According to the U.N. and CPJ records, Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 173 journalists and media workers since October 2023.