This is what it’s like to be a reporter in today’s Iran: To cover the recent anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, you had to wear a bright yellow bib identifying you as a journalist and sit in a designated area where you could hear and see President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speak, but not the thousands of protesters nearby.

But this is also what it’s like to be a reporter in today’s Iran: You see ordinary people on the bus on the way to work and shopping for groceries in the market. You see not just the angry expressions of demonstrators and police, but the creases of tension along a mother’s forehead, the frowns of worry on the face of a merchant, the glimmers of hope lighting the eyes of a grammar school student.

“There are always considerations here, which make you regret that you can’t cover things like you’d like to and as they really are, or cover them at all to begin with,” said one journalist working for an international news outlet, who spoke on condition that neither she nor her news outlet be identified. “But I think obviously for the sake of journalism, it’s the right way, to be inside the country and down on the streets.”

Iran remains one of the most restricted nations in the world for the practice of journalism, especially after the unrest and crackdown that followed the nation’s disputed June 12 election. Hundreds of local journalists have been arrested. Iranian newspapers have been explicitly warned to stay away from touchy subjects. On Monday, the nation’s media watchdog banned the main reformist daily, Etemaad, as well as the weekly Irandokht and the Hamedan-based periodical Sina.

Much of the once lively international press corps, meanwhile, has been pressured to leave or decided to pull out.

But a number of international news outlets continue to maintain a presence in Tehran, navigating tricky red lines to keep independent eyes on one of the world’s hottest news stories. They say they strive to deliver a balanced picture of Iran’s state of affairs without drawing the attention of authorities.