Fact Check: Iran state TV was struck by Israel. But did its anchor say Allah will protect her just before?

India Today

4 hours ago

Sahar Emami, a news anchor at Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, was delivering the news live on Monday — as she usually did — when her world came crashing down, quite literally. There were loud booms, and the studio appeared to fill with smoke, dust, and debris. An Israeli airstrike had hit the IRIB headquarters in Tehran.Emani, 40, who has been working with Iranian state television since 2008, instantly went viral on social media, with many dubbing her Iran's lioness and a true inspiration.advertisementHowever, the viral video of Emani's Farsi broadcast is now being shared with English subtitles that read, 'We will not cower. By truth, we will not turn away. Because we have Allah to protect us! With Allah, no bomb can reach us.' Those sharing this subtitled version of the video pointed out the apparent irony of the studio being struck the moment Emani says Allah would protect her from Israeli bombs.
India Today Fact Check, however, found that the subtitles completely mistranslated what she was saying. In the actual video, Emani was saying that the sound being heard in her studio is the sound of aggression against her country and the truth.OUR PROBEUsing keyword search, we found the viral video on the official account of Time magazine. This version of the video had English subtitles which read, 'The sound you heard, it is the sound of aggression against the homeland. The sound of aggression against truth and righteousness. What you observed, the sound you heard, the dusty atmosphere of the studio'. At this exact moment, there was a loud explosion and the anchor leaves.Israel strike cuts off Iran's state TV during live broadcast as studio fills with dusthttps://t.co/IK44gO8JI1 pic.twitter.com/S7dxQAcn5K— TIME (@TIME) June 16, 2025advertisementThe Associated Press also reported the same English translation of the video in its description of the video.This proves that the subtitles in the viral video bear no resemblance to what was actually being said.The IRIB headquarters in Tehran's District 3 was attacked by Israel on June 16. The broadcast was cut off for a brief period and resumed later. According to the American non-profit, the Committee to Protect Journalists, one journalist and one other worker were killed in this attack.According to Al Jazeera following the attack, Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei called it a 'wicked act' and a war crime. IRIB head Peyman Jebelli said the channel was attacked because the Iranian media was 'precisely targeting the depth of the enemy's media strategy'.Tune InMust Watch
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