Sarafraz Leaves IRIB After 18 Months; Ali Asgari Takes Over

On Wednesday, May 10, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic accepted the resignation of Mohammad Sarafraz and appointed Abdolali Ali-Asgari, the former deputy for development and technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), as the new head of the organization. Ali-Asgari is the sixth president of IRIB since the 1979 revolution. According to ISNA news agency, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his decree, thanked Sarafraz for what he called 'revolutionary and valuable efforts' and emphasized that these efforts 'should never be forgotten.' The Supreme Leader called for 'adherence to macro strategies, attracting, retaining, and training revolutionary and efficient forces, and effective presence in cyberspace' in the new president's decree, while also noting that 'what should be recommended has been detailed in my decree to Mr. Sarafraz.' Rumors about Sarafraz's resignation had circulated on news sites for a long time, and on Tuesday, news outlets reported the acceptance of his resignation and the appointment of Ali-Asgari as the head of IRIB, which was officially announced on Wednesday. Sarafraz's resignation comes less than 18 months after he took office on November 8, 2014. In recent months, reports had emerged about Sarafraz's disagreements with security institutions, and he had stated in an interview with the Jam-e Jam newspaper that 'a security agency' had acted 'irrationally' towards his former advisor, Shahrzad Mirgholikhani, and had asked her to leave the country. Although Sarafraz did not name the security agency, Mirgholikhani stated in a post on her Facebook that agents from the IRGC Intelligence had asked her to leave the country. According to Jam-e Jam, Mirgholikhani, a former prisoner in the U.S., had been working in the international section of Press TV and was appointed as Sarafraz's advisor after his appointment. In this context, Amir Tajik, the head of the Documentary Network, wrote in Jam-e Jam that Mirgholikhani's report regarding 'the unnecessary squandering of the organization's budget' to the head of IRIB was the cause of the issues she faced. Tajik stated that Mirgholikhani had been accused of 'spying' for the U.S. through Oman. In addition to Mirgholikhani's case, other controversial incidents such as the 'Fatilaeiha' program, which was considered insulting to Azerbaijanis, the series 'Dar Hashiyeh' about doctors that faced protests from them, Shina Shirani's complaint against two managers of Press TV for sexual harassment, the controversy over the 'Exir' program hosted by Farzad Hasani, widespread changes among IRIB managers, budget shortages, and the low quality of radio and television programs—which some media claim led to an increased audience shift towards satellite channels—are also cited as reasons for Sarafraz's resignation from the presidency of Iran's most important media outlet. Abdolali Ali-Asgari, the new head of IRIB, was the media development and technology deputy during the presidency of Ezzatollah Zarghami at the organization. He was dismissed from his position following Sarafraz's appointment in November 2014. A few days after his dismissal, he was appointed as an advisor to Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary. According to ISNA, he was born in 1958, holds a degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Amirkabir University, a master's degree in management from the University of Tehran, and a PhD in industrial engineering with a focus on systems and operations from Iran University of Science and Technology. His previous positions include Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, CEO of the Iran Touring and Tourism Organization, member of the Policy Council of the Organization of Endowments and Charity Affairs, CEO of the Cultural Research Foundation of Western Studies, educational deputy of the organization, and head of the IRIB University and advisor to the head of the judiciary.