You Cannot Publish Any News You want

On the day that Iran’s press jury determined that two publications “Iran Jome” and “Chelcheragh” were in violation of the press law, and rejected any leniency on them, the minister of culture and Islamic guidance issued his “final warning” to the media and said conditions in the country did not allow the media to publish any news or analysis that was there. He even invited “people and legal entities” to search for material that was “not truthful” in the media and report them to the ministry.

Express Dos and Don’ts

Mohammad Hosseini is perhaps the first minister of guidance of the Islamic republic who openly announced what he believes are the dos and don’ts to the media. Prior to this, in February 2011 he had asked the media to be spreading the gospel that “the country was moving forward.”

His latest orders, as published by Dolat say, “Our country is not in a situation where any media should publish any news or analysis that are not in harmony with the interests of the regime and the national interest.”

He spoke of an upcoming meeting with the media and economic authorities so that the media would learn more about the current situation of the country and act according to the national interest rather than “anybody disrupting the atmosphere without ultimately having any explanation for its assertions.”

Hosseini used the term “final warning” for the media and asked them to take the special conditions the country was in into consideration, particularly the sanctions against it.

In his remarks, the minister also issued an unprecedented call on the public and legal entities to report on any published items that they deemed were not truthful while also revealing that the Media Supervision Board met on a continuous basis and regularly issued guidance to the media.

This new decree by the minister follows the earlier calls by the minister that began in March when he told a selected group of pro-state media that, “Internet sites had to strive to understand the conditions the country is in and that the world is watching Iran, so they must act with responsibility.”

In that meeting, Hosseini generally complained about the media’s news and asked,” What is the meaning of this when the five main headlines of a newspaper or a website are all negative? Is this in the interest of the country?”

In that very same meeting, the minister promised financial and credit support to sites that were in line with the government.