Jam TV director shot dead
Various news sources have reported an assassination attempt on Saeed Karimian, CEO of Jam TV Group, and his death as a result of the incident.
One of Mr. Karimian's relatives confirmed the assassination attempt on Mr. Karimian and his death in an interview with the Radio Farda website.
These reports, which were reflected in media outlets such as the Iranian government-owned Al-Alam TV channel, referred to the incident as a "terrorist attack" that took place in Istanbul, Turkey, and that the perpetrator or perpetrators fired dozens of bullets at Saeed Karimian.
Al-Alam TV reported that Mr. Karimian was assassinated in a shopping mall, but some reports say that he was attacked in his office or while leaving his office.
Turkish media reports, including the Anadolu Agency, provide further details of the incident. These reports state that one of Saeed Karimian's partners was with him at the time of the assassination attempt and was also killed.
Anadolu Agency writes that the assassination attempt took place on Saturday evening at 9:00 PM local time, and Saeed Karimian was in his car with his partner, a Kuwaiti citizen.
However, it is still unclear who the perpetrator(s) of this attack were and what their motives were. Istanbul police have launched an investigation into the matter.
Mr. Karimian was an artistic and media activist abroad who was tried in absentia in the Tehran Revolutionary Court last February and sentenced to six years in prison on charges of "propaganda against the system."
At that time, the verdict against Mr. Karimian and other cultural and media activists, including figures such as Googoosh, Nikahang Kowsar, and Fereshteh Ghazi, was published in the form of an advertisement in the Hayat newspaper, affiliated with the Iranian judiciary.
At the same time, media outlets affiliated with security institutions in Iran have attempted to portray Mr. Karimian in connection with the People's Mojahedin Organization (PMOI) in their reports on his activities.
After the assassination attempt on Mr. Karimian, these media outlets published a faked video claiming that Mr. Karimian had met with Maryam Rajavi and accused him of collaborating with the People's Mojahedin Organization on television.
However, the People's Mojahedin Organization (PMOI) announced in a statement on Sunday, releasing the original photo, that the Islamic Republic's media had replaced Mr. Karimian's photo with a picture of a Belgian senator next to Ms. Rajavi.
The organization also attributed the assassination attempt to agents of the Islamic Republic in its statement.
The Jam TV Networks Group includes more than 50 TV channels, most of which are in Persian and some in Kurdish, Turkish, and Arabic.
