‘There’s actually someone’s lunch at their desk standing here, which they probably would have been wanting to eat until they had to evacuate the building,’ correspondent Frederik Pleitgen says while holding up a melted spoon
CNN reporter Frederik Pleitgen toured the Iranian state-controlled broadcasting headquarters that Israeli warplanes struck, pointing out the regime’s destroyed tech and food remains as he noted that the attack had sparked calls for “revenge.”
“You can see the damage is absolutely massive. I‘m standing in the atrium right now, but if you look around this whole area has been completely destroyed,” Pleitgen, a CNN senior international correspondent, said as the camera panned over the demolished office.
“All of the offices, all of the technology that they have inside here, the broadcast technology, everything has been rendered pretty much useless,” he added. The screen showed phones, keyboards, computers, and other tech that looked decades old.
A hijab-clad presenter was reading regime propaganda on the state-run Akharin Khabar network when it was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Monday. The anchor quickly ran off screen as others shouted in the background.
Pleitgen held up a melted spoon and pointed to food remains left on a desk.
“There’s actually someone’s lunch at their desk standing here, which they probably would have been wanting to eat until they had to evacuate the building,” he said.
Israel launched its military offensive against Iran on June 12, quickly killing nuclear scientists and top officials as well as damaging military bases and nuclear facilities. The strike on the news studio highlights how Israel has significantly broadened its military campaign to further destabilize the region, hitting the regime’s political institutions and government buildings.
Pleitgen said the Akharin Khabar presenter is “being hailed as a champion of Iranian media” after returning to finish the newscast after the strike.
“All of this is playing very big here in Iran. There‘s a lot of public anger that the Israelis attacked this site,” he said. “And certainly the Iranians are saying that they condemn this and that there is going to be revenge for this.”
But so far, Iran’s countermeasures against Israel have had limited results.
