Attack on IRIB; The Zionist Regime is the biggest enemy of truth

On Monday, June 15, in a criminal act, the Zionist regime targeted Iran’s Radio and Television.

This regime, which has never been held accountable for its crimes, shows no red lines when it comes to crimes against civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Targeting Iran’s Radio and Television is further proof that the Zionist regime seeks to suppress the media and free expression, to silence the flow of information about its aggressive actions and crimes.

Many experts have condemned the attack by the Zionist regime on Iran’s Radio and Television as unlawful and a war crime.

The Zionist regime is so shameless that after this attack, it openly supported its criminal action and tried to justify it by making various false claims.

Esmail Baghaei, Spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: “The world is watching; the attack on Iran’s Radio and Television is another savage crime. The Zionist regime is the greatest enemy of truth and holds the record for killing journalists and media workers.”

Baghaei also stressed that the United Nations Security Council must fulfill its responsibility to put a stop to the aggression by the genocidal Zionist regime against the Iranian nation.

International law on attacks against media

The illegality of attacks against journalists and media outlets derives from their protection under international humanitarian law, which applies to civilians and civilian targets — media should not be considered military targets.

In other words, journalists and their equipment enjoy the general protection that civilians and civilian targets enjoy.

Radio and television facilities are civilian structures and therefore enjoy this general protection. The prohibition on attacks against civilian targets has been firmly established in international humanitarian law since the beginning of the 20th-century and is reiterated in Additional Protocol I (1977) and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

In particular, from the dual obligation outlined in Article 48 of Additional Protocol I — distinguishing at all times between civilian and military targets and directing operations only against military targets — it follows that civilian targets, alongside the civilian population, enjoy general protection under Article 52.

While Article 85 of the same Protocol considers attacks against civilians a war crime, there is no analogous article for civilian targets. Nevertheless, attacks on certain facilities which enjoy special protection — defenseless sites, civilian areas, historical buildings, works of art, or places of worship — constitute war crimes. Additional Protocol II does not provide general protection for civilian targets; only certain facilities of special significance to civilians, such as medical units, transport, essential civilian supplies, and cultural properties, are expressly covered.