An Israeli airstrike hit the headquarters of Iranian state television in Tehran on Monday in the middle of a live broadcast, filling the studio with dust and debris as the anchor hurried out of the frame. The feed was then cut off but resumed after a few minutes.
Hassan Abedini, the deputy director of Iran’s state broadcaster, said an unspecified number of employees were injured, according to The New York Times. Footage from outside showed the building on fire and billowing smoke.
The Israeli military claimed the building was being used to conceal military infrastructure, a claim that The Washington Post and other outlets said they could not independently verify.
“The Iranian regime’s propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority was attacked by the IDF after a widespread evacuation of residents in the area,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a post online, referring to the Israeli military. “We will defeat the Iranian dictator everywhere.”
Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian government, called the strike “a wicked act of war crime.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists said it was “appalled” by the strike.
“Israel’s killing, with impunity, of almost 200 journalists in Gaza has emboldened it to target media elsewhere in the region. This bloodshed must end now,” a spokesperson for the group’s Middle East and North African branch said in a release.
The strike comes after the Israeli military said it had control of the airspace over Tehran and western Iran.
Iran’s health ministry said more than 220 people have been killed in four days of Israeli strikes, while Israel has reported 24 deaths. Israel’s opening salvo killed about 20 military commanders and at least nine nuclear scientists, as well as striking the country’s main nuclear sites.