Iran widens journalist crackdown before demonstrations
| Istanbul, Turkey
An Iran聽military official condemned all Iranian journalists working for foreign media as 鈥渟pies鈥� and called for them to be 鈥渄ealt with in the harshest way possible鈥� in the run-up to expected mass demonstrations on Thursday.
听叠谤颈驳. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri said that working with foreign media should be declared a crime, according to the ISNA news agency. He said the foreign press is 鈥渁cting as a control room for a soft coup d鈥櫭﹖at.鈥�
General Jazayeri's comments were the latest in a series of measures taken to stifle dissent and public communications about Iran's political situation as the country turns towards the anniversary of the 1979 revolution on Thursday. Supporters of the opposition Green Movement聽have promised to be out in force on Thursday. On Wednesday, the Iranian police said a number of protest organizers have been arrested.
A renewed wave of arrests has increased the number of imprisoned Iranian journalists聽to 47, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
鈥淚ran is No. 1 in the world in jailing journalists by a long shot,鈥� said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, the Middle East and North Africa program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York. 鈥淭he next highest is China and they鈥檙e in the mid-20s even though they have a population of 1.3 billion.鈥�
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders pegged the number of detained journalists and 鈥渘etizens鈥� at 65, 鈥渁 figure that is without precedent since (the organization) was created in 1985,鈥� according to Secretary-General Jean Francois Julliard.
"Counterrevolutionary Zionists"
On Sunday, the public relations office of the Ministry of Intelligence announced the arrest of seven journalists described as "elements of a counter-revolutionary Zionist satellite station" and in the "official pay" of US intelligence organizations. They were later identified as working for the US-funded Radio Farda, though the Prague-based organization denies employing anyone inside Iran.
Their arrest marks an increasing intolerance towards foreign media. Unlike the Washington-based Voice of America (VOA) television, the Prague-headquartered Radio Farda was tolerated and would regularly interview Iranian politicians.
鈥淭hey thought the people鈥檚 protests would last no longer than a week but it鈥檚 now been seven months,鈥� said Mahdad, a journalist who wrote for several now-banned newspapers and is currently in exile in an African country. 鈥淎fter the election they realized that everyone is a media, not only journalists.鈥�
Dozens of Iranian journalists in exile languish in Iran鈥檚 neighboring countries or several European countries. Others have even been forced to search for work in Afghanistan, the only other newsworthy Persian-speaking country in the region.
Working for the BBC and VOA was criminalized on Jan. 5, when the Intelligence Ministry issued a list banning contact with more than 60 Western organizations that included think-tanks, universities, and media outlets.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 mean such journalists are the kind of spies who receive money for selling information to the enemy but they are certainly working against their country鈥檚 interests,鈥� said Hamidreza Jeihani, a researcher in Esfahan University鈥檚 Department of Sociology and regime supporter. 鈥淏ut they may not be aware they are acting against their own country.鈥�
Aside from imprisonment, the Islamic Republic employs other ways of pressuring journalists, including domestic exile and temporary or lifetime bans from working.
鈥淚f a Greek journalist should go to a Turkic minority area in his own country and write a positive story about them, shouldn鈥檛 the Greek government arrest him?鈥� asked Jeihani rhetorically. 鈥淚n the same way, the Iranian government is moving against fifth-columnists.鈥�
The Ministry of Islamic Guidance announced that 300 foreign journalists will cover the anniversary of the Revolution march set for Thursday, 40 of them visiting from abroad.
鈥淟et鈥檚 hope they鈥檙e not thrown out like the last time the Iranian government invited foreign journalists to witness democracy in action,鈥� said Abdel Dayam, commenting on information that the journalists will be shepherded to and from the regime-orchestrated event and not allowed to cover other areas of the capital where opposition demonstrations may be occurring.
鈥淚t invites the inevitable question: What is the Iranian government trying to hide and why are they inviting journalists in if they have something to hide?鈥�
