Iranian Anchor Emerges Hero After Israeli Strikes, Her Gesture Goes Viral

Sahar Imani, one of the most prominent anchors with the Iranian state television, is being praised widely on social media for returning to broadcast immediately after an Israeli strike on the studio last evening. Dramatic footage showed yesterday the organisation's building on fire in Tehran as Israeli attacks grew amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.

Imani was midway through the bulletin when an Israeli missile hit the compound of the Iranian TV studio. She had to get up and leave as the studio shook in the impact of the missile strike, showed visuals. She, however, returned and resumed her live broadcast shortly after.

Social media posts from regime supporters lauded Imani's strength and courage, and her image was shared alongside senior leaders of the Shia-Iranian axis.

"She is the face of Iranian women's courage," read one of the posts. With her image alongside Nasrallah, another was captioned: "You cannot destroy an idea by killing."

Going viral is her gesture of pointing her finger while targeting Israel on television, just before the strike filled the studio with smoke. Her gesture has found her place in online posters alongside Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, making similar gestures.

Iran's Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, Zahra Behramzadeh Azar, also praised Imani in a post, calling her a symbol of Iranian women's courage and stating that she has become "the voice of all Iranian citizens in the face of aggression."

Who is Sahar Imani?

Sahar Imani is one of Iran's most famous news anchors. Trained in food engineering, she entered the media field with an anchoring role in 2010. Soon, she gained national prominence by presenting on Iran's official news channel.

She is married and has a child.

Following Monday's events, Arabic-language media praised her "calm demeanor and confident presence". Their coverage also noted her "simplicity and avoidance of heavy makeup."

Condemnation of the Attack

The attack on the Iranian State TV broadcasting headquarters sparked widespread condemnation from pro-Iran voices online.

Hezbollah condemned it as a "Zionist crime", calling it a "heinous attack targeting Iran's broadcasting center". They labelled it "systematic terrorism" aimed at "suppressing opposition, erasing truth, and ending the Iranian people's revolution."

The Iranian broadcaster issued a statement saying: "The Zionist entity brutally bombed the state media headquarters in Tehran. The enemy seeks to silence the great Iranian people's voice by targeting the news channel."

The attack "reflects the impact of Iran's national media on Israeli media. This attack has not broken, and will not break, the resolve of Iran's journalists," said the head of Iran's broadcasting authority.

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