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.
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Pleitgen is home in Berlin now, and he described his harrowing but crucial experience by phone. The conversation was edited for brevity and clarity.
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