Paris, August 28, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the mayor of Tehran, Alireza Zakani, to respect the Tehran Journalists’ Association’s right to function without undue interference after the mayor’s office of the Iranian capital city ousted the organization, in what the group described as retaliatory action.
“We strongly oppose the forced closure of the Tehran Journalists’ Association offices and urge authorities to reverse this decision without delay or, at minimum, provide the association with an alternate rent-free location to continue its work,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah.
In a statement, the city administration said the association’s two-year occupancy agreement had expired and the property was repossessed on August 20. The city said the property was part of a street expansion project and that the eviction was done in compliance with judicial orders.
The association said it had been locked out due to “political pressure” from the mayor’s office, describing it as a “blatant assault on trade union independence, the professional freedom of journalists, and the pluralism of society.” Two weeks prior to the eviction, on National Journalists’ Day, the association had issued a list of concerns regarding the treatment of the media. Municipal authorities have also evicted two other civil society groups, the Iranian Sociological Association and the House of Humanities Thinkers, from their offices in recent months.
A journalists’ association representative said the group had been given the building by the City Council but that the city administration had denied its request for an extension of the lease.
A member of the Tehran City Council, Naser Amani, also criticized the decision, saying that any revisions to the association’s contract should first have come before the Council.
The media is tightly controlled in Iran where the state owns all broadcasters and journalists are regularly arrested and intimidated. The crackdown on the press has intensified following Iran’s 12-day war with Israel in June. Iranian journalists overseas also face harassment.
CPJ’s email to the mayor’s office requesting comment did not receive a response.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.