Former Head of IRIB Confirms Ban on Thousands of Artists in the Organization

The former head of Iran's state radio and television announced in an interview that, according to the Ministry of Intelligence, several thousand artists and experts in the organization are "banned from work and entry." Mohammad Sarafraz stated in an interview with the Shargh newspaper on Tuesday, March 21, that one of the reasons for his resignation was the interference of "security institutions," which demanded that certain artists and experts be "banned from work and entry." He added, "I do not disagree with this statement; because a security agency has a duty to investigate and give an opinion in these matters; but the problem was that there should have been a clear and transparent list of artists and experts who were banned from entry and work, which did not exist. There were scattered items that included several thousand people." He stated that "this part was the direct responsibility of the Ministry of Intelligence." Reports of bans on several cinema actors, singers, and other artists have been published before. Meanwhile, various reports have also been published indicating that some artists are banned from interviews in IRIB. Mohammad Sarafraz resigned in 2017 after 18 months of presidency over IRIB. Prior to this resignation, reports of disagreements between Sarafraz and security institutions had been published, and he had also stated in an interview with the Jam-e Jam newspaper that "a security agency" had acted "irrationally" with his former advisor, Shahrzad Mirgholikhani, and had asked her to leave the country. Meanwhile, Shahrzad Mirgholikhani wrote on Facebook that agents of the Revolutionary Guards had asked her to leave the country. In this context, Amir Tajik, head of the Documentary Network, wrote in an article in the Jam-e Jam newspaper that Mirgholikhani's report regarding "the unnecessary squandering of the organization's budget" to the head of IRIB was the cause of the issues that arose for her. Sarafraz mentioned in his interview on Tuesday that one of his plans was to reform the structure of IRIB and reduce costs. According to Sarafraz, this organization had "a large number of personnel, many of whom came based on relationships and recommendations and had not received the necessary training upon arrival." He stated that Iran's radio and television had about 20,000 official personnel and about 20,000 unofficial personnel, of which 3,000 are managers. The former head of IRIB said that during the presidency of Ezzatollah Zarghami, the budget of this institution was 2 trillion tomans and its expenses were 2.7 trillion tomans. According to Sarafraz, IRIB managers sold part of the organization's properties at times to cover budget deficits. For example, there was a property in Elahieh that was sold for more than 10 billion tomans. The budget of Iran's radio and television has increased every year, and even in recent years, sometimes in addition to the regular budget, funds from the national development fund have been used to cover the expenses of this institution. The increase in IRIB's budget comes at a time when this institution also generates income through advertising sales. Meanwhile, Ehsan Ghazizadeh, a member of the IRIB Supervisory Board, stated in an interview with the Khabar Online website that the budget of this institution in 2018 was 3.1 trillion tomans, of which 1.8 trillion was from advertising revenues. According to Ghazizadeh, this institution also received 200 million euros for "luxurious television productions." Meanwhile, the ILNA news agency had previously reported that "the price of advertising on IRIB is on average 180% higher than the equivalent in euros on Euronews." The head of IRIB is appointed by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. According to Iranian media reports, IRIB is facing a crisis of declining audience. Some of the actions of this institution, including broadcasting forced confessions of political prisoners, have led to protests. Meanwhile, dozens of Iranian regime opponents have written a letter to Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, calling for sanctions against IRIB. These opponents, pointing to issues such as "human rights violations," the manner of reporting, sending jamming signals, and promoting "destabilizing" objectives of the Islamic Republic, have requested that the U.S. not extend the suspension of sanctions against IRIB.