Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro presented the prestigious prize to Emami and victims of the Israeli raid on IRIB during the National Journalist Day ceremony in the capital, Caracas, on Saturday, as he hailed the courage and professionalism of the media personnel who were present inside the building at the time of the attack.
“This award expresses the unanimous sentiment of humanity to recognize the courage of the Iranian woman, Sahar Emani, with this award, as well as her colleagues, Nima Rajabpour and Ma'soumeh Azimi for the heroic work of showing the truth at this juncture, where the Iranian people are heroically resisting,” Maduro said.
He further condemned the attacks carried out by the Israeli regime and the United States on Iran, praising the steadfastness of the Iranian people, leadership, government, and armed forces.
Iran’s ambassador to Venezuela Ali Chegini received the special award on behalf of Emami and the families of the honored martyrs of the aggression.
On June 16, the Israeli regime struck the central building housing IRIB’s news department, while a live news broadcast was underway.
The transmission was briefly interrupted before Hassan Abedini, IRIB’s news director and deputy for political affairs, appeared on air to condemn the terrorist crime.
At the time of the attack, news anchor Emami was presenting the news. Despite the building trembling under the first strike, she stood her ground and continued the broadcast by condemning the attack.
Moments later, another blast filled the studio with smoke and dust, forcing her to evacuate. She returned shortly after to join Abedini and share her harrowing experience.
Israel launched an unprovoked war of aggression against Iran on June 13, assassinating senior military commanders and top nuclear scientists in targeted strikes before attacking nuclear and military sites and residential areas.
The Iranian Armed Forces responded with 22 waves of missile strikes as part of Operation True Promise III, which targeted many strategic sites across the Israeli-occupied territories.
Press TV