May 20, 2014

The chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces warned conservative media outlets with links to the armed forces against continuing to incite the public or target the administration unfairly. The May 19 comments by hard-line political figure Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, who reports directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was welcomed by officials from President Hassan Rouhani’s administration.

“This is the demand of the supreme leader … that whoever has sympathy for Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini], the revolution, the supreme leader and the martyrs, join hands and help this administration … to push the country forward,” said Firouzabadi.

He said, “Some of the games of the media result in public incitement,” and asked the media outlets to put their partisan interests aside in order to “build the country and help the administration.” He also asked the management of these media outlets to “prevent news that incites the public [or] weakens the administration.”

“Some news has no value or is divisive, and some are rumors, accusations and are baseless,” Firouzabadi continued. He stressed that he was not trying to determine editorial slants and that “Even media that are in some way connected to the armed forces make mistakes. They do not operate with the policies and aims of the supreme leader. They have to reform their ways; otherwise, we will confront them.”

Firouzabadi did not mention any media outlets by name, but Sobh-e Sadegh is officially linked to the Revolutionary Guard. The editors of the Fars News and Tasnim agencies and Javan newspaper are believed to have links to the Revolutionary Guard. Other hard-line outlets such as Vatan-e Emrooz and 9 Dey have been relentless in their attacks on various ministers and administration officials, at times making dubious claims about the nature of the nuclear agreement. Firouzabadi warned media outlets that the ministers of the country already have enough burdens, and the constant pressure on them from the media works to the detriment of the country.