National Journalists’ Day Marked in Iran
TEHRAN – Iran on Wednesday vehemently condemned acts of terror against Iranian journalists as well as scores of press people covering Israel’s months-long atrocities in the besieged Gaza Strip.
In a message on his X account commemorating the National Journalists’ Day, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani paid tribute to 244 journalists martyred during Iran’s eight years of defense against the Saddam Hussein regime’s invasion of the country as well as 165 journalists martyred since the Israeli regime’s brutal war on Gaza, which began in October last year.
He also honored the memory of Iranian journalist Mahmoud Saremi who was martyred along with eight staff members of the Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Afghanistan on August 8, 1988.
The foreign ministry spokesman praised the journalists who sacrifice their lives in the most difficult working conditions and dangerous environments to cover news reports.
August 8 has been designated as National Journalists’ Day in Iran after Taliban militants in Afghanistan killed Saremi, the correspondent of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), along with eight Iranian diplomats, at the Iranian consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998.
The attack took place amid pitched street battles between the Taliban and Ahmed Shah Massoud-led Northern Alliance, as the city was considered to be a bastion of anti-Taliban resistance forces.
The ghastly attack drew condemnation worldwide, even as the Taliban distanced themselves from it and shifted the blame on others, with some even pointing fingers at the outlawed extremist group Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP).
Initially, at least 11 diplomats and a journalist were reported missing under mysterious circumstances and were presumed dead. Later, it was confirmed that eight diplomats and a journalist had been killed.