On Monday, an Israeli airstrike hit Iran’s national TV station, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), during a live broadcast, and footage captured the moment when the Israeli bomb hit.
A loud blast could be heard, and smoke filled the room as the news anchor fled the scene, and then the broadcast went dark. Casualties have been reported, but according to Iran’s news agency IRNA, it’s unclear how many employees of the TV station were wounded or killed.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that the IDF was behind the attack on the TV station, a clear civilian target. “The propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority of the Iranian regime was attacked by the IDF after a widespread evacuation of nearby residents,” he wrote on X. “Strike the Iranian dictator everywhere.”
The attack came after Israel ordered a mass evacuation in Tehran, and Katz said before the strike that the “residents of Tehran will pay a price” for Iranian counterattacks on Israel. He claimed in another post that he didn’t mean Israel would cause “physical harm” to Tehran’s residents but that they would be punished by being forced to evacuate.
Israel’s bombing campaign in Iran, which was launched on Friday, has killed a significant number of civilians, according to Iranian government numbers. An Iranian government spokesman said on Monday that at least 45 women and children have been killed by Israeli attacks. On Sunday, Iran’s Health Ministry said at least 224 people had been killed so far and claimed 90% were civilians.
The US-based Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI), an organization that keeps tabs on human rights issues in Iran and is very critical of the Islamic government, said in an article from its news agency on Monday that it has recorded a total of 408 deaths, including 199 civilians, 92 military personnel, and 117 people who have yet to be classified as either civilians or military.
