Deputy Minister of Culture: Prevent the Influence of Dissenters in Media

The Deputy Legal Minister of Culture has stated that the entry of 'non-native individuals' into the media should be prevented, while the Minister of Interior has mentioned that 'signs of enemies' greed for the elections' have been detected in the media landscape. The state news agency IRNA reported on Tuesday, November 25, the remarks of the Deputy Legal and Parliamentary Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, who warned against the entry of 'non-native individuals' into the media. Hossein Nooshabadi, who is also the spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture, responded to a question from an IRNA reporter regarding the Supreme Leader's warning about 'the influence of secular thought in the media,' stating that 'suspicious and problematic individuals and dissenters have no place in the media and their influence must be prevented.' He added that 'any movement towards division and allowing non-native individuals into the media must be stopped, and this vigilance should be continuous.' This official from the Ministry of Culture stated that 'suspicious, unhealthy thoughts and pens linked to foreigners should not penetrate the realm of media,' referring to Ayatollah Khamenei's remarks that 'we must be careful that infiltrators and those linked to foreigners do not have the opportunity to influence the thoughts and ideas of society.' Nooshabadi's reference to Khamenei's remarks came during a meeting with IRGC commanders, where it was emphasized that 'foreigners are politically seeking to infiltrate decision-making centers, and if that fails, to infiltrate decision-making centers.' Khamenei had previously warned that the U.S. seeks to infiltrate the country through the nuclear agreement, but his comments among IRGC commanders sparked a wave of reactions and actions around the theme of 'countering infiltration.' Notably, nearly two weeks ago, the IRGC referred to several detained journalists as a Western infiltration network. Shortly after these arrests, Ebrahim Raisi, the Attorney General, labeled the detained journalists as 'an infiltration network in the media and social networks' and also as 'spies and mercenaries working for Americans.' However, the government of Hassan Rouhani, through the President, the Minister of Interior, and the Minister of Culture, expressed dissatisfaction with the manner of these arrests, and even the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Shamkhani, stated that he does not consider these arrests unrelated to 'political settling of scores.' Tracking 'the greed of enemies' in the media landscape, alongside the remarks of the Deputy Legal Minister of Culture, the Minister of Interior of Iran also stated in his news session on Tuesday that 'signs of enemies' greed for the elections' have been detected in the media landscape. Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, who is also the head of the National Security Council, stated that 'elections in our country have created a temptation for foreign forces to disrupt the electoral process and turn it into a social and security crisis in Iran.' He emphasized that 'we have seen signs of this issue in media spaces and have put information countermeasures on our agenda.' It is unclear whether these remarks are related to the recent arrests of several journalists, but the Minister of Interior had previously stated that the judiciary announced 'it has documents and evidence that are under review.' He added that these documents are to be shown to him 'as the head of the National Security Council' after review. In recent weeks, Eisa Saharkhiz, the director of press at the Ministry of Culture during Mohammad Khatami's presidency, Ehsan Mazandarani, the editor-in-chief of Farhikhtegan newspaper, Afarin Chitsaz, a columnist for Iran newspaper, and Saman Safarzadeh, a journalist for Andisheh Pouya magazine, have been arrested. On Tuesday, Hadi Heydari, a reformist journalist and cartoonist, was also arrested, but the reason for his arrest has not been announced, and it remains unclear whether there is a connection between his arrest and the others.