Iran’s foreign minister says journalists’ deaths ‘a serious wake-up call’

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi says the deaths of three journalists in Lebanon are “not only a deep loss for the media community in the region and the world, but also a serious wake-up call for the global conscience”.

Ali Shoeib, a reporter for Al Manar TV - a network run by the militant group Hezbollah - and Al Mayadeen reporters Fatima and Mohamed Fetoni were killed in an Israeli air strike in the town of Jezzine.

In a post on social media, Araghchi called the strikes “clearly a targeted assassination” and an attempt to “silence the voices of truth-tellers”.

Israel’s military has confirmed it killed Ali Shoeib in a strike, but accuses him of being a Hezbollah operative posing as a journalist.

This is the second time Israel has been accused of targeting journalists in Lebanon since the war began, writes our Middle East correspondent.

Meanwhile, Qatari news channel Al Araby has said that its Tehran office was damaged in an Israeli strike.

“An Israeli missile targets the Al Araby TV channel building in the capital, Tehran… extensive damage and the suspension of live broadcasting,” the channel said in a post on X.

Video posted by the channel showed the office strewn with broken furniture, its windows shattered.

The street outside was extensively damaged, with cars destroyed and debris over a wide area.

--Agencies