Iran: Death of a young journalist just a few days before her wedding

Mahshad Karimi

By: Alireza Bahrami

TEHRAN: At this moment on Tuesday evening, as I write these sentences, the family wedding of “Iranian journalist” Mahshad Karimi was supposed to take place. But her friends and family have been returning home from her grave in Tehran cemetery for an hour, and they are all depressed and sad.

Last Wednesday, a group of journalists critical of the Iranian government’s environmental policies were invited for a visit to government actions to revitalize Lake Urmia. This salt lake in northwestern Iran has been drying up for about two decades. Iranian environmental journalists and environmental activists have been critical of Iranian government officials over the years for not preventing the lake from drying up.

Yasini – Karimi

On Wednesday evening, a bus carrying journalist back from a water tunnel overturned due to safety concerns. Two young Iranian journalists, Mahshad Karimi (ISNA) and Reyhaneh Yasini (IRNA), lost their lives in the accident. A number of journalists were also injured, four of whom are still in hospital.

This incident caused a wave of criticism among the Iranian media and artists, but government officials continue to deny responsibility for the crash. This behavior caused a wave of anger among Iranian journalists. Iranian media expect the Iranian vice president to resign as a result of the incident.

Poster in Tehran

IRNA and ISNA are the two largest news agencies in Iran. IRNA has been operating as the official news agency of Iran for more than 70 years. ISNA has been operating for 21 years and has become an important news source, most of its journalists are students.

In these two decades, nine ISNA colleagues or those who started their amateur and professional activities in ISNA have died.

Yasini’s memorial

A number of them died in the course of their news duties as a result of accidents. Hassan Gharib (photographer – in the crash of an army plane), Ismail Emrani (reporter – in the crash of an army plane), Milad Eslami (in the crash of a plane in the Alps), Vahid Sohrabi (photographer – due to an accident in his hometown), Kamal Hajipour (News Editor – due to brain tumor disease), Alireza Telyani (News Editor – due to cardiac arrest in sleep), Mostafa Fatemi (News Editor – due to an avalanche in the mountains in north of Tehran) and Mahshad Karimi (Reporter – in a bus accident).

Karimi’s Desk

Many political officials and artistic and sports figures in Iran have expressed their condolences on the death of two young journalists (Karimi and Yasini). In their messages, they thanked journalists for risking their lives for a better society.