Amir Soltanzadeh saw his name on the list of individuals labeled as "traitors to the homeland" by state media, which reported on the confiscation of their assets. He published a picture of his library in Iran and wrote: "This library is my only possession in Iran; if you are into reading, confiscate it."
Pressures Before the Release of the List
According to this Iranian journalist living abroad, the threats began long before the release of this list; from threatening messages on social media to anonymous calls to his family in Iran. The pressures even reached his elderly father's job. Soltanzadeh says: "I felt guilty. My father lost his job because of me."
This journalist noted the repeated calls from individuals who introduced themselves as affiliated with the Ministry of Intelligence, stating that they repeatedly asked his parents to convince him to abandon journalism. These pressures also affected his father's workplace and income. For this reason, Amir decided to completely cut off contact with his family for a while, and inquiries were made through intermediaries.
Pressures on Journalists' Families
The pressure on the families of Iranian journalists abroad is an issue that Reporters Without Borders has also warned about. The organization announced that all exiled Iranian journalists who have sought support from its office since 2024 reported that nearly 60 of them faced pressure on their family members in Iran.
Omid Barin, another journalist from Deutsche Welle Persian, also has a similar experience. He says the threats against him began around 2013 and have taken various forms over the years; from threatening messages and summons of family members to cyberattacks and transnational threats. Barin points out that these pressures have forced him to adopt more security considerations in his daily life, from being cautious against cyberattacks to being careful when traveling to certain countries in the region.
He stated: "The biggest and most tangible impact these pressures have had on my personal life is migration. I have changed my residence three times now, and it has been a heavy cost."
Challenges of Journalism in Iran
For journalists who still live and work in Iran, the pressures take another form; from summons and interrogations to the formation of legal cases and the possibility of criminal sentences. One of these journalists, whom we will refer to as "Mahshid" for security reasons, spoke about her experience facing the judicial and security institutions of the Islamic Republic.
Mahshid says that the interrogator demanded the confiscation of her assets, but the court did not agree to this request due to insufficient evidence. She believes that for such confrontations, sometimes issues are used that are not directly related to the publication of news reports; from personal appearances and images to comments on social media.
She concludes: "The interrogators of the Islamic Republic use anything as a pretext to settle scores with independent journalists." These pressures have led to self-censorship among many journalists and have impacted their professional lives.
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