Iran Briefing (Exclusive) – It’s more than 10 years that Fars News Agency has been established. Although this News Agency has mentioned “Independent News Agency” in its “About Us”, but it’s famous as dependent on IRGC. However, Fars began its activity with independent people from the beginning, but gradually, IRGC and security related people and conservative reporters were hired and independent people were omitted.
According to Tabnak Website’s report in 2008, a website related to Mohsen Rezaie, IRGC’s ex-commander and the current secretary of the Expediency Council, the budget of Fars is provided by IRGC and most of its managers have IRGC records.
The climax of omitting independent employees was before 2009 election. Hamidreza Moghadam, former CEO of Fars News informed about the beginning of Tavana learning club of journalism by this institute to absorb and train youth in journalism. But, those kind of youth that he meant were Basijis, IRGC forces and related people. After a period of one to two months education, they were replaced in Fars News.
According to the Association of Iranian Journalists – that its members are from the International Federation of Journalists- in the first week after 2009 election, 39 employees of Fars news were fired or had been made to abdicate due to their protests to the managers about the news policies. International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) also announced it is worry about the situation of journalists in Iran.
Since the beginning, Fars News has showed its policies in a way which got famous as the tribune of regime’s conservatives and IRGC. Although in its constitution has been mentioned: “this news agency is to protect national interests, people’s interests and believes as its duty and will monitor the news in favor of people”, but in practice, Fars is acting against people’s interests and is serving a minority who are in power. It has falsified and censored the news in favor of regime.
Boycotting the news of protests in Tehran and also ethnic minorities, sabotage of politicians and civil activist who are criticizing the regime, especially the Supreme Leader, supporting Ahmadinejad in his two periods of presidential election, relating the sabotages and killing of people in 2009 post election protests to oppositions and western countries which were done by IRGC and Basij, hiding the realities of Syria and Palestine, appreciating IRGC, Basij and organizations close to Supreme Leader, sabotage of characteristic of Ahmadinejad’s allies after his divergence with IRGC and Ali Khamenei and calling them “deviant”, enlarging the regime’s achievements and hiding the problems of the society and so on, are some of Fars News’ activities in favor of the regime.
This News Agency has always been the tribune of governmental organizations and those who are the Human Rights violators in Iran. In 2009 post election courts, it was not impartial and had defended the regime’s suppression of political activists, accused them to such charges as being connected to the foreigners, enemies and anti-regime countries which were far away from truth. While witnesses and independent sources reported that Neda Agha Soltan was killed by regime’s security forces, Fars news agency denied her killing at all, then related it to the enemy’s agents (US and Israel) and called it a planned conspiracy.
In first months of 2013 and in the new wave of critic journalists’ arrest, this news agency was an important tribune for human rights violators in Iran such as Intelligence Ministry and Judiciary System to publish their statements and journalists’ fake charges. With fake and untrue analysis, Fars News made fake characters of journalists as they are dependent on western media such as BBC. This kind of spreading lies was because of that regime was to make a way to suppress independent journalists, critics of regime, political activists and dissidents of the society by the support of a media which has an important role to deceive the public.
Totally, according to the last 10 years activities of Fars News, it can be concluded that this institute is serving human rights violators in Iran such as Intelligence Ministry, IRGC, Basij, Police, Military organizations, Judiciary System and so on which are being monitored and managed by Supreme Leader. This News Agency is helping the regime in the frame of ideological goals of regime and violating human rights via censorship, deceiving the public, hiding the truth, spreading lies, boycotting and deviating news.