Head of IRIB Defends Cultural Council's Decision on Home Network Oversight

The head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) defended the recent decision by the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council to assign oversight of the home network to this organization. Peyman Jabali stated on Saturday to ILNA news agency: "According to the constitution, IRIB is responsible for audio and visual content across all platforms, and the Cultural Revolution Council's decision regarding the home viewing network is to solidify this matter." Following a harsh attack from government media, including the Kayhan newspaper, which is managed under the representative of Ali Khamenei, criticizing home network series and labeling their products as 'depraved', the Cultural Revolution Council recently assigned oversight of home viewing products to IRIB. Previously, the 'Cinema and Audiovisual Affairs' organization, under the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, was responsible for 'managing cinema affairs and home viewing networks'. In response to this decision, the House of Cinema of Iran criticized the transfer of oversight of the home viewing network to IRIB in a statement, calling this action 'disappointing' and 'against the advancement of the art economy in the cinema industry'. This professional association on Friday, July 2, called on responsible institutions to 'set aside insistence on outdated and obsolete foundations' and 'act in accordance with contemporary necessities and accepted societal norms.' The House of Cinema of Iran mentioned among the consequences of the new decision the 'increased psychological pressure on artists' and 'greater censorship of home viewing and cinematic works', considering it to exacerbate the cultural crisis. This cinema organization predicted that IRIB's oversight of the home viewing network would lead to the strengthening of television networks outside Iran, the migration of filmmakers, unemployment among artists, and dissatisfaction among audiences. The House of Cinema of Iran has requested that the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council reconsider and amend its decisions and consult professional experts and artists in this regard. Previously, several prominent figures in cinema and television in Iran described the transfer of oversight of the home viewing network to IRIB as a 'tsunami of artist bans' and protested against it. These filmmakers, in a joint protest statement published on their Instagram pages on Thursday, July 1, described the transfer of oversight of the home viewing network as the 'end of home viewing' and attributed it to the 'green light from Raisi'. Majid Beheshti, a film producer, stated to Voice of America regarding the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council's decision: 'The transfer of the home viewing network to IRIB is a return to the 1980s.' The House of Cinema called IRIB's oversight of the home viewing network 'disappointing'. Protests against the transfer of home viewing with the 'green light' from Raisi: 'The end of people's entertainment' is noted.