Iran International's Journalists Subjected To Transnational Repression Globally

Forbes

a day ago

In August 2025, international lawyers from a U.K.-based Doughty Street Chambers and Howard Kennedy raised the dire situation of Iranian journalists globally, with several of them being subjected to serious threats. According to their statement, over the past six weeks, Iranian authorities have intimidated and threatened 45 journalists and 315 of their family members. Iranian authorities are said to have threatened to kill these journalists and their relatives unless they stop working for Iran International by specific deadlines, which have all now passed. Iran International is a news platform dedicated to covering events and developments related to Iran, as well as regional and global stories that affect Iranians at home and abroad. Headquartered in London, with bureaus in Washington, DC, and around the world, it broadcasts internationally, providing a vital source of news and information to people living in and outside Iran.
Iranian authorities have a long-standing pattern of targeting the Iran International journalists and their families. Since its formation in 2017, Iran International journalists have been targeted by the Iranian authorities in retaliation for their reporting, with assassination and kidnap threats, serious physical assaults, online abuse, harassment and hacking, among others. Among others, in March 2024, journalist Pouria Zeraati was stabbed by men believed to be acting for the Tehran regime. In March 2025, two men, believed to be acting for Iran, were convicted in a murder-for-hire scheme targeting an Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad (in July 2022).
Iranian authorities are known to perpetrate transnational repression globally. In a recent report published by the Joint Committee on Human Rights, a committee consisting of members of both Houses of the U.K. Parliament (House of Commons and House of Lords), British parliamentarians raised that, 'Tactics reportedly used by Iran include assassination plots, physical attacks, intimidation of family members, asset freezing, judicial proceedings, smear campaigns, online abuse, surveillance and digital attacks such as hacking, doxing30 and impersonation.'
In response to the threats against the 45 journalists and 315 of their family members, the legal team for Iran International has filed an Urgent Appeal with five United Nations experts, U.N. Special Rapporteurs responsible for freedom of expression (Ms Irene Khan), extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions (Mr Morris Tidball-Binz), counter-terrorism (Professor Ben Saul), torture (Dr Alice Edwards) and Iran (Ms Mai Sato). The Urgent Appeal calls upon the UN to take action against Iran over serious risks to the lives and safety of their journalists in seven countries worldwide, namely, the U.K., the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Germany, Turkey and Belgium, and to the safety of their family members, most of whom reside in Iran.
As the legal team argues, despite such threats not being anything new, the past six weeks, since mid-June 2025, have witnessed 'an alarming and unprecedented escalation' of the situation, with an ever-growing and real risk to the lives of the journalists and their family members. As their statement indicated, 'Without any justification, Iranian authorities immediately began - on a systematic and widespread basis – to accuse Iran International journalists of being spies for Israel, responsible for providing information about Iranian infrastructure to Israeli intelligence.' As they emphasized, 'Express and credible threats have been made to kill both journalists and named family members.'
While the Urgent Appeal is focused on 45 journalists and 315 of their family members, the legal team made it very clear that the number of targeted journalists continues to rise at a rapid and alarming rate: 'We anticipate that more will be added within hours of this Urgent Appeal being filed.'
The U.N. experts are yet to confirm whether and what steps they will be calling for. However, as the situation is of utmost urgency, other avenues must be considered to ensure the safety and well-being of all those at risk. Some of such steps have been recently proposed by the Joint Committee on Human Rights, as means to address the issue of transnational repression. States around the world must identify how best to protect people within their jurisdiction, and responding to transnational repression must be a part of their national security strategy.