Credit: CNN – CNN’s Fred Pleitgen and Claudia Otto covering the protests in Tehran, Iran.Were you allowed to freely move around while in Tehran?
Tehran was very empty when we arrived, as a lot of people had already left the city to avoid getting caught up in airstrikes. We drove in late at night there and didn’t see really any people in the streets or lights burning in houses. In the days that followed, we were able to go out and film, but there were some restrictions at the sites damaged by airstrikes. For instance, we needed an escort to enter the premises of Iran’s state broadcaster, which had just been hit by an Israeli airstrike, as it was located on a fenced-in compound. It was also necessary at some of the sites in residential areas where airstrikes had struck, as these were deemed high-security zones. Those were the only times we got an official escort.
At the height of the conflict, what was it like to be reporting on the ground?
We were working day and night as the air campaign was unfolding, especially when the U.S. got involved by bombing Iranian nuclear installations. During the day, we’d go out and film in hospitals treating the wounded, areas that had been hit by strikes, and markets to speak to regular folks about what was happening. The conflict was ever-present, as we frequently heard the thuds of what seemed to be airstrikes, and we saw air defenses firing into the skies, particularly at night. We had a close call one morning when, all of a sudden, jets flew over us, followed by a large explosion in our immediate area. We ran to the basement and heard the jets pass again, followed by more explosions that violently rattled our building. When we emerged to the rooftop, we saw large parts of western Tehran engulfed in smoke. The strikes had hit only about a block from our location.
What about Iranians was not adequately covered?
We saw it as our core mission to help Iranians’ voices get heard. From the Iranians recovering in hospitals after strikes to those we met in public places living in fear, and to those protesting against the air campaign, the message was always the same: anger and disbelief at the air campaign. I interviewed a hardline Iranian politician who said that while many Iranians were not happy with the Islamic Republic, when attacked from the outside, they came together to stand against the bombings, rallying around the flag.