News Center — Journalists in Iran, especially women, are facing increasing restrictions, including systematic campaigns of harassment, arrests, and threats, under official policies aimed at silencing critical voices both inside and outside the country.
Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, issued a report highlighting the repressive practices adopted by the Islamic Republic of Iran against dissidents and journalists.
She pointed out that Iranian female journalists are subjected to severe harassment characterized by violence and gender-based discrimination, emphasizing that the families of these journalists and dissidents inside Iran suffer serious repercussions, including interrogations, asset freezes, dismissal from jobs, and sometimes imprisonment.
According to Sato, Iranian authorities use a range of tactics—including “death threats, attempts to steal information, sabotage campaigns, and cyberattacks”—to suppress dissidents and critics abroad. She noted that the transnational repression practiced by the authorities violates fundamental freedoms and threatens rights such as freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of movement, and privacy.
She added that she, along with a group of UN experts, sent two official letters regarding transnational repression to Iranian authorities in August of last year, to which Tehran formally responded, with the response published on the UN website.
Speaking about her experience interviewing activists and journalists, Sato said:
“I realized that many of them had become accustomed to experiencing transnational repression. When I asked if they had been targeted by it, some said no—but as I probed further, it became clear they were regularly subjected to online threats, phishing attempts, and cyberattacks. What was once considered safe had been redefined out of necessity, and normalization of these threats seemed to be part of a survival strategy to continue their important work.”
She stressed, “We must acknowledge these realities and protect those who speak truth to power.”
It is worth noting that Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in its report on the state of media and press freedom, referred to the continuation of what it described as a ‘reign of terror’ in Iran, confirming the existence of systematic repression of critical opinions. According to the same report, Iran ranks 176th out of 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index—reflecting a severe deterioration in the media environment within the country.