How CNN’s Lone Journalist in Iran Survived a War
Frederik Pleitgen's hair-raising journey into — and inside — the world's most dangerous battle zone.
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Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Even ardent journalists don’t go through what Frederik Pleitgen just endured. The German-born CNN journalist spent nearly 24 hours traveling overland from Armenia to Tehran —where he was promptly confronted by rampant bombing that threatened him, his producer and translator wherever they went. But the great risk to Pleitgen also came with great payoff for everyone else: For the critical first week of the U.S. and Israel war in Iran Pleitgen was the only known major journalist representing a U.S broadcasting outlet, having received the Iranian regime’s lone Western-journalist visa. He would use that week to tell crucial stories while dodging air strikes, often avoiding death by a matter of minutes. Related Stories Movies German Distributor DCM Acquires Swiss Ascot Elite Music SiriusXM Celebrates Long-Awaited New BTS Release With Pop-Up Channel Pleitgen is home in Berlin now, and he described his harrowing but crucial experience by phone. The conversation was edited for brevity and clarity. So start with the obvious: how do you even get into Iran right now? The moment that the combat operations started, I contacted the Iranian culture ministry and the foreign ministry and put in an official visa request. I told them, “I think it would be very important to let us in, to let us report from the ground for a little while.” At some point they were just like, “Okay, we’ll let you in.” And then they issued a visa for eight days, and I picked it up at the embassy in Berlin, and then we flew to Yerevan in Armenia. It was a nine-hour drive to the Iran border in a snowstorm. And then we got to the border and they told us, we’re not getting in. They said the border is closed for foreigners and you need to go back to Armenia. So much for that visa. It did...
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