Iran pushes bill to criminalize journalists’ communication with ‘hostile media’

DUBAI — Iran’s parliament approved a bill on Sunday that would criminalize interviews and other communications with media deemed hostile to the Islamic Republic, including US or Israeli media and outlets financed by either country, Iran’s Shargh newspaper reported.

Under the bill, which must still be reviewed by the Guardian Council before it can become law, interviews or participation in discussions with such media would be banned and violations punishable by six months to two years in prison.

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Interviews with other foreign media would require notification to the intelligence ministry, while contact with foreign embassies, offices of foreign organizations or other non-Iranian institutions without notification and written permission from the foreign ministry would be punishable by a fine and deprivation of certain social rights.

The bill would also harden penalties for economic crimes committed under the direction or supervision of foreigners, ban providing information to foreigners without intelligence ministry approval, and restrict scientific cooperation with foreign institutions outside an approved list.

It would punish policy or legislative proposals made under the direction of foreign intelligence services if they harm Iran’s security or independence, with prison terms of up to 30 years. Cases would be heard by Revolutionary Courts.

The move does not mark the first time Iran has criminalized cooperation with foreign entities. A law passed in 2025 after a 12-day war with Israel imposed tougher penalties for alleged cooperation with hostile states.

Iranian award-winning photojournalist Yalda Moaiery has been sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison by a Tehran court, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

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Iranian photojournalist Yalda Moaiery was sentenced in absentia last week to 15 years under that law, over allegations that included giving interviews to media deemed hostile and providing photographs to US and Israel-linked organizations.

Moaiery said she shared photographs showing damage from airstrikes in Iran with CNN and appeared in an interview about her reporting in March 2026.

The award-winning photographer said she has 10 days to appeal under the 2025 espionage law, half the time allowed under previous legislation.

Moaiery, who has previously been imprisoned for her work, said she remained committed to her work despite the prospect of further imprisonment.

“None of these sentences, however, has ever caused me to abandon my path, even for a moment. I have continued to document and show the realities of Iranian society,” she said. “I don’t have anything to lose. The regime took everything from me and the only thing that I still have is my truth and honesty as an observer.”

The crackdown on journalists comes amid a surge in executions of those accused of spying for Israel and the US or involvement in the mass anti-government protests that were brutally suppressed earlier this year.

Iranian authorities executed at least 1,639 people last year, a record high since 1989, according to human rights groups, said to be the second most executions of any country, after China.

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