On August 8 1998, Islamic Republic of Iran's News Agency’s (IRNA) reporter Mahmoud Saremi, and 8 Iranian diplomats were killed by Taliban militants in the city of Mazari Sharif in Northen Afghanistan.
Iranians hold ceremonies throughout the country to pay tribute in the honor of the martyred journalists
Saremi was working over there as the bureau chief and a very active correspondent at the time of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the event happened with the support of the United States and many western countries at that time.
Since the US led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Over 20 journalists alone have lost their lives.
In Iran one of the most tragic events related to the journalism that comes to many people’s mind is the 2005 plane crash of a C-130 plane in which 40 journalists lost their lives an addition to a number of Iran Army Air Force personnel and veterans en route to Chabahar.
Being a journalist in Iran has its own difficulties; the red tape involved makes getting interviews difficult and sometimes nearly impossible.
But after all this many people still enjoy this job and are in it for the excitement and the thrill no matter what.
One hundred twenty journalists are working at Mehr News Agency in twelve desks reporting news in Persian in addition to five foreign language services.
MNA is IIDO-affiliated (Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization) news agency which was established in 2003 and is headquartered in Tehran.
The 12 different news sections include Art and Culture, Culture and Literature, Religion and Thought, Economic, Seminary School and University, Technology, Social, Politics, International, Sports, Photo and Provinces.
The news agency’s foreign languages websites in addition to the Persian service include Arabic, English, German, Turkish and Urdu.
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