Reuters provided close to $4 million in news content to Iran’s state-controlled broadcaster over more than a decade, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Friday, citing leaked documents and internal communications.
The payments were directed to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), a US-sanctioned entity that oversees English-language state news channel Press TV and other state-linked outlets.
According to private emails and invoices published by the Network Contagion Research Institute, Reuters furnished IRIB with extensive video and text services between at least 2011 and 2021.
“I want to make sure that these services continue without any interruptions,” a Reuters executive wrote to IRIB in 2021, adding, “I am under pressure from my management to start receiving payments as soon as possible.”
A Reuters spokesperson confirmed the relationship to the Free Beacon, saying that the company had sold “text newswires and video news products into Iran” for more than ten years and had disclosed the transactions to the US Treasury.
The spokesperson defended the practice, saying, “We believe that it is vital that every government and its citizens have access to Reuters' reliable and accurate news. This practice applies equally in times of conflict.”
Reuters issued payment requests totaling $3,882,116, including follow-ups to IRIB officials and acknowledgments of Press TV’s reliance on the content, the Free Beacon reported.
The documents also confirm Reuters’ contact with IRIB chief Peyman Jebelli and Press TV head Ahmad Noroozi—both under US, EU, and Canadian sanctions for their roles in “broadcasting coerced confessions and collaborating with Iranian intelligence.”
“Reuters uniquely provides the IRIB with news content that the IRIB uses for legitimacy, which Reuters officials bragged about in these emails,” a senior GOP congressional staffer told the Free Beacon. “That is a moral crime. Now it's clear from the emails that Reuters knew it was circumventing American sanctions by using third-party cutouts. That is an actual crime that people go to jail for.”
An analysis by NCRI found that Reuters’ services likely bolstered Iran’s propaganda, including Press TV’s output of anti-Israel content and unfiltered statements from groups like Hamas.
"Providing services in support of Press TV is the modern-day equivalent of supplying Goebbels and his Nazi Ministry of Propaganda with syndicated news content in support of their propaganda efforts," an NCR analyst told the Free Beacon.
Reuters declined to answer whether the relationship with IRIB is still ongoing, according to the Free Beacon.
