Iranian Parliament Advances Bill Criminalizing Interviews With US and Israeli Media

Iran’s Parliament Advances Bill Restricting Contact With US and Israeli Media

Iran's parliament on Sunday approved the general principles of a proposed law that would make it a crime for Iranians to give interviews or participate in discussions with media outlets deemed hostile to the Islamic Republic. The list includes American and Israeli media and any outlet funded by those countries, according to a report in the Iranian newspaper Shargh cited by Valor.

Under the draft, violations involving those outlets would carry prison terms of six months to two years. Contact with other foreign media would not be banned outright but would require prior notification to Iran's Ministry of Intelligence. Unauthorized contact with foreign embassies, offices of foreign organizations or other non-Iranian institutions would be punishable by fines and the loss of certain social rights unless the person has written authorization from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The bill goes further than media contacts. It would increase penalties for economic crimes committed under foreign direction or supervision, prohibit supplying information to foreigners without Ministry of Intelligence approval, and restrict scientific cooperation with foreign institutions to an approved list. Political or legislative proposals prepared under the direction of foreign intelligence services could carry sentences of up to 30 years if they are judged to harm Iran's security or independence.

The text still has several legislative stages ahead. It will be examined article by article in parliament and, if approved, reviewed by the Guardian Council before it could become law. Osman Salari, a member of parliament's judicial and legal commission, cautioned that individual provisions still need to be debated and that details should not be considered final.

How Iran’s Draft Foreign-Contact Law Would Work and Who It Affects

The draft represents another step in Iran's pattern of treating foreign contact as a security matter rather than a civil-liberties issue. A 2025 law passed after a 12-day war with Israel already imposed harsher penalties for alleged cooperation with hostile states. The new bill would extend that logic from explicit security cases to routine journalistic, academic and professional interactions.

How the Draft Would Reshape Media Access

By singling out American and Israeli outlets, the bill would make ordinary interviews with major international news organizations legally hazardous for Iranian citizens. The proposed six-month-to-two-year sentence for those cases is not the harshest provision in the text, but it has the widest chilling effect: it targets the daily work of journalists, analysts, activists and ordinary sources. For other foreign media, the requirement to notify the Intelligence Ministry means contact could become a bureaucratic and potentially incriminating process rather than a free choice.

The Wider Compliance Burden on Researchers and Businesses

The bill's restrictions on scientific cooperation and foreign information-sharing would affect universities, research institutes and companies that work with international partners. A requirement to operate only within an approved list of foreign institutions could slow joint projects, particularly in technology and other sensitive fields. Separate rules on embassies and foreign organizations would create a written-authorization requirement for many everyday meetings with foreign counterparts.

Revolutionary Courts and the Enforcement Signal

The provision that cases would be heard by Revolutionary Courts is significant because those courts have historically handled national security offenses with procedures that rights groups criticize as less transparent. Pairing that jurisdiction with penalties of up to 30 years for certain political or legislative proposals signals that the law is intended as an instrument of state security, not merely a media regulation.

What Could Still Change

The approval so far covers only the general principles of the bill. The article-by-article debate and the Guardian Council review are real opportunities for the text to be amended or rejected. Salari's caution that details should not be considered final is a reminder that the version now being reported may differ from any law that ultimately takes effect.

Compliance Steps While Iran’s Foreign-Contact Bill Is Still in Draft

The bill is not yet law, but its broad drafting means companies, media organizations and researchers with Iranian counterparts should treat contact protocols as a live risk. Based on the published provisions:

• Review any planned interviews or discussions between Iran-based staff or sources and US- or Israeli-funded media; the draft proposes prison terms of six months to two years for that contact.
• For contact with other foreign media, ensure the Iranian side has completed the proposed notification to the Ministry of Intelligence rather than assuming approval from an employer or institution is sufficient.
• For meetings with embassies, foreign NGOs or non-Iranian institutions, check that written authorization from Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs exists before the meeting, since the draft proposes fines and loss of social rights for unauthorized contact.
• For universities or research units with Iranian partners, map current joint projects against the proposed approved list for scientific cooperation; non-listed foreign institutions could become off-limits if the text is enacted unchanged.
• Monitor the article-by-article parliamentary debate and the Guardian Council review, because individual provisions may still be amended or rejected before any law takes effect.