Iran Adds Prague-Based Radio Farda to List of Military Targets

Iran's armed forces have placed Radio Farda — the Persian-language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, headquartered in Prague — on a list of military targets. The announcement was made by Iranian military spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi, who accused the outlet of collaborating with American and Israeli intelligence.

According to him, "these hostile media outlets are soldiers of Zionism and the United States and appear on our list of military targets." He also stressed that Iran's armed forces do not consider these organizations to be media outlets at all. The statement was reported by the Lebanese outlet L'Orient-Le Jour.

Other Broadcasters Added to the List

Alongside Radio Farda, the list of military targets now includes BBC Persian and Iran International — both based in London. Tehran had already officially designated them terrorist organizations back in 2022.

Radio Farda, whose newsroom maintains direct contacts with sources inside Iran, regularly reports on the crackdown against anti-government protests and repression under the Iranian regime. Since January, the country has been experiencing a new wave of mass protests, with reports indicating that hundreds of demonstrators have already been killed. Exact figures are difficult to obtain due to near-total communications blackouts and strict censorship in the country.

A Long-Standing Standoff

It is likely coverage of the security forces' actions that explains why the station has long remained a hostile media outlet in Tehran's eyes. Iranian authorities have spent years trying to restrict Radio Farda's broadcasts — something Radio Free Europe itself reported as far back as 2009. At the time, Iranian authorities also managed to block Persian-language broadcasts from both the BBC and Voice of America.

Source: novinky.cz