Mohammad Alimoradi, a journalist and documentary filmmaker residing in Tabriz, reported being threatened with death by individuals who appear to be agents of the Iranian government’s security agencies.
According to a short video shared by Alimoradi on his Instagram page, a person sent threatening messages, using language similar to that of Iranian security agents, to threaten the journalist with death. In a voice recording published on Alimoradi’s page, the person making the threat accuses the journalist of “creating division” and “separatism” in Azerbaijani Turkish and states in part of the audio, “We will destroy you at night. From now on, take care of yourself. We are watching you. If you continue your actions, be assured we will destroy you at night.”
Mohammad Alimoradi is an independent journalist and documentary filmmaker from Marand in East Azerbaijan Province. His video documentaries have received numerous national and international awards. Although it is unclear which Iranian security agency the individual threatening Alimoradi is affiliated with, the threat against independent journalists in Iran is a recurring pattern aimed at disrupting free information dissemination in the country.
Alongside the judiciary and security officials of the Iranian government, who extensively pursue judicial and security action against journalists, various groups referred to in Iranian political discourse as “fire at will” have systematically and continuously threatened Iranian journalists and civil activists, and in some cases, physically harmed them.
According to the annual report from the Defending Free Flow of Information Organization (DeFFI), in 2024, at least 256 journalists and media outlets in Iran faced judicial and security action. In that year, prison sentences were executed against 11 journalists, at least 36 journalists were arrested, and journalists and media activists received a total of 69 years and 10 months in prison, along with 110 lashes and over 200 million tomans in fines.