From a tiny studio in southern Tel Aviv, a group of Iranian-Israelis beam music and news in a effort to reach out to their former fellow countrymen. Farsi-language web broadcaster, Radio RadisIN is based in a small shopping center on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. It was set up three years ago to encourage a sense of unity among the 300,000 Israelis of Iranian descent. But it also has another, perhaps more important mission: to send news and views from Israel directly to Iranians living in the Islamic Republic and around the world. Broadcaster Kami Itzhakyan said, "Our goal is for Iranians to really know what is happening here in Israel, and also at home. The Tehran regime hides the truth from them."
Born in Iran, Itzhakyan immigrated to Israel 25 years ago and is now one of the station's 35 presenters and journalists, who provide a steady stream of popular and classical Iranian music, cultural programs, and political news and analysis.
He says, "In Iran, all of the news which is broadcast is a lie. There is no truth in it. I want our listeners in Iran to know the real truth."
RadisIN broadcasts on the Internet because the Iranian regime is not able to interfere with the US-owned Intelsat Galaxy 15 satellite by which its programs are transmitted. The programs are also rebroadcast by several free cable and satellite stations, the station says.
The this has resulted in a growing audience. They have callers ringing in from around the world, most of them from the United States, France, Germany and of course, Israel. From time-to-time, a listener may dare to ring in "from somewhere in Iran".
Many in Iran are preparing for the inevitability of war, says Itzhakyan, who stays in touch with friends back home. He says, "There's a sense of war in Iran, people fear that war is very, very close. Some people are going to the supermarkets and stocking up on supplies which they are keeping at home in case of war."
Meanwhile, as speculation grows that Israel is ready to mount a lightning strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, RadisIN is sticking to business as usual, despite attempts by the Iranian regime to shut them down.
Amir Shai, the 42-year-old founder of RadisIN, says, "They tried to block us, and got into our website and damaged it. The regime knows that a station like RadisIN, which was set up by people in Israel, is much more dangerous to it than if it were set up by a government body.
"They don't want my voice -- along with another 35 or so other broadcasters who speak heart-to-heart with the Iranian people -- to be heard. But it's important for the Iranian people that it is."