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Iran is among the world’s most repressive countries for press freedom. But in recent months, I have seen first-hand how the work of telling the truth has grown more fragile, more improvised, and more dangerous than ever.

We have been cut off from our sources. After the authorities imposed a nationwide communications blackout, the already fragile infrastructure of reporting has all but collapsed. Even when we can make contact, we are careful; a phone search at a checkpoint could put them in danger. We cannot cross-check events through local coverage or rely on familiar verification channels. Instead, we wait for the rare, precious moments when a reliable contact inside Iran manages to get online, navigating VPNs or risking Starlink, which the authorities have criminalised.

In those brief windows, what reaches us can open a narrow way to truth: a voice note from a journalist silenced by the regime; some sentences from another, still haunted by a recent release from prison; photographs smuggled out by a photojournalist whose newspaper has been shuttered.

From hundreds of miles away, this is how we try to tell the story of war and repression.

This is where independent journalism of the kind practised by the Guardian matters most: journalism that shows how people in Iran are trapped between the bombs of Israel and the US and the repression of their own government, caught in a war that has left them vulnerable both to foreign attack and to state violence at home.

How do we, as journalists, report on war and state violence from a country where the authorities impose a near-total internet shutdown, cut international phone lines, restrict access to local news outlets, and make on-the-ground reporting almost impossible?

This is not an abstract challenge. It has shaped every aspect of reporting on Iran, from the mass killing of protesters during the peaceful demonstrations that began in December 2025 to the war involving Iran, the US and Israel.

Reporting from Iran, especially on human rights violations, has never been easy. Journalists inside and outside the country have long worked under severe restrictions imposed by the authorities, while their sources have faced constant risk.

That work depends on the journalists inside Iran committed to truth, citizen journalists who dare to take risks, and ordinary people who refuse to remain silent. They have built a fragile but vital bridge to those of us reporting from afar. Without their courage, independent reporting on Iran would be impossible.

Some mainstream outlets have at times been allowed to send correspondents into Iran. But it comes with restrictions and supervision, which reveal only a narrow slice of the truth and never the full picture.

• The Guardian is committed to helping journalists inside repressive regimes across the world to share their stories. As part of our annual support campaign promoting the defence of the free press please consider backing our work today – or consider backing another independent outlet whose work you value. We’re hoping to get 60,000 new supporters, or acts of support by 21 May.