The Venezuelan regime, under President Nicolas Maduro, has awarded the Simon Bolivar Prize to Iranian news anchor Sahar Emami, following an Israeli Air Force strike on Iran's state broadcasting headquarters in Tehran.
The award, accepted by Iran's ambassador to Venezuela, Ali Chegini, was presented in recognition of Emami and the media personnel who were present during the strike on the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN), a subsidiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
Maduro praised Emami and those killed in the attack as courageous, hailing their actions during what he termed an Israeli assault on Iran's national television. Emami had been broadcasting live when the strike occurred and resumed the transmission shortly after, an act Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has lauded as heroic.
Footage of the live broadcast from the moment the IAF struck the headquarters shows Emami shouting frantically as explosions are heard and debris falls from the ceiling.
The IDF confirmed the strike was a targeted operation against a communications facility utilized by the Iranian Armed Forces under the guise of civilian media. According to the military, the building hosted infrastructure that directly contributed to the regime's military capabilities.
Minister of Defense Israel Katz emphasized that the operation, based on precise intelligence, struck a military asset camouflaged within IRIB's civilian framework. In coordination with the Intelligence Directorate, the IDF executed the strike with measures to minimize civilian casualties, including direct warnings via phone calls and written notices in Arabic and Farsi.
Residents of District Three in northern Tehran, where the IRIB headquarters are located, were urged to evacuate in advance. The area, home to government offices, international missions, and the state broadcaster, was identified by the IDF as a military zone under the control of the Iranian regime.
Minister Katz declared on social media: "The mouthpiece of Iranian propaganda and incitement is on its way to disappearing. The evacuation of residents in the area has begun."
Simultaneously, the IDF conducted strikes on additional military targets in western Iran, intensifying efforts to dismantle Iran's regional terror infrastructure. Despite the Islamic Republic's effort to glorify figures like Emami, the IDF maintains that the targeted media complex was a legitimate military site contributing to Iran's destabilizing activities across the region.