Repression, Prison Have Left No Independent Media In Iran, Experts Say
Grim commentaries this week marked the 21st anniversary of Etemad, one of the few reformist papers left in Iran, as dozens of journalists were jailed in recent months.
Grim commentaries this week marked the 21st anniversary of Etemad, one of the few reformist papers left in Iran, as dozens of journalists were jailed in recent months.
The daily's managing editor Elias Hazrati, its leading columnist Abbas Abdi and former government spokesman Ali Rabiei wrote their accounts of the difficult situation facing the media in the newspaper's anniversary edition.
Hazrati, a former reformist lawmaker, wrote that he launched the paper at the end of his parliamentary career as "a media outlet for the majority of Iranians." He added that during the past 21 years he kept his promise of giving voice to both the older and younger generations of Iranian journalists.
Etemad has been banned several times since its launch and its journalists came under pressure by the authoritarian government particularly under conservative presidents.
Complaining about censorship and government pressure on the press, Abdi wrote that the government presumes newspapers that reflect society's problems are portraying a disparaging image of the country. Statesmen in Iran do not know that problems will not be solved if they are not discussed by the media.
Abdi said: "Newspapers act like medical examination reports. If nobody pays attention to what they highlight, problems will lead to serious abnormal situations." He further complained that the Iranian government has never taken the newspapers seriously and this is part of the crisis of media in Iran.
Abdi added: "The government constantly insists that newspapers should not publish "negative news" and "disparaging accounts." They don’t see that the people are living in the society and see for themselves what is going on.
"The crisis of the media in Iran has roots in different narratives and the government's reliance on its own narrative. As long as the narratives rather than realities drive the government's policies, the media cannot have their true status," Abdi said.
According to Abdi, Etemad and a few other newspapers have refused to play the role of trumpets that voice the government's views and propaganda. The fact that this newspaper has survived for 21 years, so far is in itself a success. What makes this effort worthwhile is the daily's commitment to reflect the truth.
Abdi was pointing out the fact that reformist newspapers in Iran are short-lived as governments have a pretty low threshold for tolerating criticism. At times, like 2001, tens of newspapers and other publications were closed down overnight without any explanation. At least one reformist newspaper, Mellat, was banned before the day it hit newsstands for the first time.
However, Etemad and a few other relatively critical newspapers are not free of daily censorship and self-censorship, as their reporting has to somewhat accommodate the regime’s ideology and rhetoric. For example, they cannot criticize the Supreme Leader, who should be mentioned as “the esteemed Leader.”
Meanwhile, in an article in Etemad, former government spokesman, Ali Rabiei wrote that what makes the media situation different in Iran is the negative impact “of arresting and imprisoning independent Iranian journalists."
What Rabiei said also referred to the emigration of hundreds of Iranian journalists to other countries, including Britain and the United States where key foreign-based Iranian media operate from.
Rabiei pointed out that the Iranian government does not allow independent media to be active in Iran and arrests and jails journalists working on investigative reporting. But the emigration of independent journalist has gradually turned into a security threat for the Iranian government.
Iranian officials on a daily basis complain about investigative reports by foreign-based media that disclose corruption and inefficiency in the government and among its officials. Nonetheless, as Rabiei observed, the government perceives even the existing toothless media as a threat.
The State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in his press briefing on Thursday responded to questions by reporters about a possible deal in the making, saying, “with respect to Iran’s nuclear program, there is no deal.“
But the fact remains that the Biden administration has had even direct talks with Iranian diplomats for the past 7-8 months according to multiple reports, in addition to talks mediated by Oman and others.
Also, Washington agreed to the release of $2.7 billion of Iran’s money frozen in Iraq for “humanitarian” purposes. Some argue that no matter what the formal label of the arrangement may be any funds Iran can use for imports alleviates financial pressure from the cash-strapped regime.
Given these concerns both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have begun stirring to make sure that the administration does not circumvent the lawmakers and according to law informs them of any deals with Iran.
"I'm extremely disappointed. To think this will end their uranium enrichment is childish. They'll continue to act in bad ways. When Iran is selling oil that it shouldn't, it gets those dollars and pumps it right back to extremist organizations," Sen. Joni Ernst told Iran International's Arash Aalaei.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Thursday saying, “I am disturbed by recent revelations that the Administration has re-engaged in “proximity talks” with the Iranian regime, and that the results of these discussions have included the apparent greenlighting of sizable payments to Iran.“
McCaul urged Biden to respect the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA), which was enacted during the finalization of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015 to allow Congress to oversee dealings with Tehran. The Obama administration decided not to make the JCPOA nuclear deal a treaty, given opposition in Congress at the time and agreed to INARA to neutralize opposition among lawmakers.
“I urge the Administration to remember that U.S. law requires that any agreement, arrangement, or understanding with Iran needs to be submitted to Congress pursuant to INARA. Any continued obstruction will rob the American people, and in particular the Gold Star families whose loved ones were killed by Iran-backed terrorism, of answers about why the United States is facilitating the lining of Iran’s coffers,” McCaul said.
The Jewish insider reported Thursday that Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC), joined by Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), also introduced legislation on Wednesday that would require the director of National Intelligence to notify Congress within 48 hours if Iran produces or possesses uranium of greater than 60 percent purity.
The Iranian Enrichment Monitoring Act is a new attempt led by Graham, Menedez and other lawmakers to ensure congressional oversight of how the executive branch deals with Iran’s nuclear program.
The website also quoted several senators, some supporters of the JCPOA voicing concern about secret dealings with Iran and releasing funds to the Iranian régime that continues its „malign activities“ in the region and sending arms to Russia.
State Department’s spokesperson Thursday more clearly listed what the administration seeks in its dealings with Iran.
"Number one, we want Iran to take steps to de-escalate tensions, which of course includes steps to curb its nuclear program," Miller said, and added that Iran should cease its actions that destabilize the Middle East.
"Number three, we want Iran to stop its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine,“ he said, referring to a new complication with Iran that emerged in mid-2022. He also demanded the release of US citizens Tehran has imprisoned „for political leverage."
According to the popular Telegram channel of the National Student Unions Council, at about 2:30 am Thursday, Hamzeh Borzouei attacked a group of about fifty students who had begun a sit-in protest against new, stricter hijab rules and seriously injured several.
The Telegram channel said university authorities have still not allowed the students who began their sit-in on Wednesday afternoon to leave, and campus security has prevented anyone from bringing food or water to the students.
Students said on social media that Borzouei and other university officials made various threats against them including the threat of calling in the military to deal with them. Plainclothesmen and other security forces were already present in and outside the university in quite big numbers.
Students also said that security claimed they blocked food delivery to prevent poisoning that they could later be blamed for if students fell ill. Students also said the besieged protesters were not allowed to use the toilettes.
The new rules require girls to wear a pullover headscarf with stitched front (called maghna’e in Iran) which is like a nun’s coif, completely covering the head and the neck. Failing to comply, the university has announced, would result in suspension.
In the early 1980s wearing maghna’e became compulsory in all universities, government offices and even banks but its use gradually became obsolete in some more lenient establishments including the College of Arts.
The hijab required in the Islamic Republic consists of a long and loose tunic in muted colors worn over trousers with a similarly plain headscarf that covers all hair and shoulders. Authorities including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei say wearing a long black veil (chador in Persian) that covers from head to toe is the ‘optimal hijab’.
In the past few years, the anti-compulsory hijab movement which took root with a social media campaign organized by US women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad in 2017, called White Wednesdays, has hugely grown. The movement has gained greater momentum since the death in custody of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September 2022 and the protests that her death sparked.
Defiance of hijab has now turned into a form of civil disobedience. Many women who have been in a tug of war with the authorities for years are now adamant to be hijab free in public. They can be seen defiantly rejecting the head scarf everywhere, from restaurants to banks and parks where previously, they could not even enter without covering their head.
In recent months, authorities have increased pressure on students for hijab, presumably to stop the growth of the anti-compulsory hijab movement in universities across the country.
The National Student Unions Council said in April that 435 students had been suspended or expelled in universities nationwide, where they had staged many protests and sit-ins since the beginning of the Mahsa movement last year.
In recent months some political parties and dissidents in Iran, including the reformist Etehad-e Mellat Party and Zahra Rahnavard who has been under house arrest together with her husband Mir-Hossein Mousavi for thirteen years have demanded the abolition of the compulsory hijab laws.