Fars News Agency Explained

Fars (Pars) News Agency
Abbreviation:FNA
Type:News agency
Location:Iran
Parent Organization:Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Language:Persian
Leader Title:Managing Director
Leader Name:Payam Tirandaz
Leader Title2:Editor in Chief
Leader Name2:Mohsen Mahdian

The Fars News Agency is a news agency in Iran managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), one of the three branches of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces. While it describes itself as "Iran's leading independent news agency",[1] it is widely described by Western news media to be a "semi-official" news agency of the Government of Iran.[2] [3] [4]

The Iran Disinformation Project calls Fars the "Spider Net of Lies and Deception" and the cornerstone of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ disinformation and propaganda campaign. Fars News’ disinformation campaign "reaches across Iran’s borders, spreading rumors and lies about dissidents, human rights, labor, political activists, and intellectuals."[5] One propaganda technique is to consistently publish interviews with western pundits and analysts such as conspiracy theorist James Fetzer who echo Tehran’s propaganda.[6]

The Fars News Agency .com domain has been blocked by sanctions applied by the US Treasury since 25 January 2020.[7] On September 15, 2023, the United States Department of the Treasury added Fars News Agency to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)'s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.[8]

History

Fars News Agency was founded in 2003.[9] In addition to Persian reporting, the agency also provides news in English,[10] Turkish,[11] Arabic,[12] and Dari.[13]

Controversial stories

Interview with Egyptian president

In June 2012, Fars released an interview with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in which Morsi is said to have told Fars that he wanted to restore ties with Iran and wanted to "review" the Egypt–Israel peace treaty.[14] Morsi later disputed the authenticity of the interview.[14] Fars responded by providing what it said was audio of the interview.[14] Arabic newscaster Al Arabiya quoted unnamed experts who said it was not Morsi's voice.[14]

Reposted story by The Onion

In September 2012, the agency picked up a story from The Onion, a satirical newspaper, about a supposed survey showing "an overwhelming majority of rural white Americans would rather vote for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than U.S. President Barack Obama in the upcoming U.S. elections".[15] [16] The Iranian version copied the original word-for-word, even including a made-up quote from a fictional West Virginia resident who says he would rather go to a baseball game with Ahmadinejad because "he takes national defense seriously, and he'd never let some gay protesters tell him how to run his country like Obama does."

Fars News Agency later apologized for its mistake, but claimed that a majority of Americans would prefer anyone outside of the American political system to President Obama and American statesmen.[17]

Time machine story

In April 2013, the agency carried a story claiming a 27-year-old Iranian scientist had invented a time machine that allowed people to see into the future. A few days later the story was removed, and replaced with a story quoting an Iranian government official that no such device had been registered.[18] [19]

Alien/extraterrestrial intelligence agenda reports

In January 2014, Fars posted a series of articles that suggested U.S. security policy was being driven by an "alien/extraterrestrial intelligence agenda".[20] [21] [22] The report said that proof was found in a Federal Security Service report carried out by Edward Snowden.[20] The report said that the United States government had been secretly run by a "shadow government" of space aliens since 1945.[23]

Salman Rushdie fatwa

In February 2016, Fars was one of 40 Iranian news agencies that pledged money toward the bounty against Salman Rushdie in regards to The Satanic Verses controversy.[24] Fars promised $30,000 for the killing of Rushdie.

Yemenite Jews

In November 2020, the Agency sparked controversy after it shared an article by Kayhan editor Hossein Shariatmadari denying the Holocaust and saying that the "real Holocaust" was against Yemenite Christians by the Jewish Himyarite Kingdom in 524 CE. Critics denounced the article as an anti-Semitic piece seeking to dehumanize Jews and downplay the brutality of the Holocaust.[25]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: About Us. Fars News Agency. 11 February 2014.
  2. News: Iranian Seminarians Denounce Anti-Government Protesters. CNN. 12 December 2009. 29 August 2013. 8 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131008202055/http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/12/12/iran.protests/. live.
  3. News: Iran Investigates Reports It Detained Britons-Media. Reuters. 1 December 2009. 29 August 2013. 11 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210511091400/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSDAH12659320091201. live.
  4. News: Iran demands apology after detaining US navy boat crews for 'violating' Gulf waters. The Guardian. 2016-01-13. 2016-02-22. 0261-3077. en-GB. Spencer Ackerman Saeed Kamali Dehghan in. London. Sabrina Siddiqui in. Washington. 3 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303093826/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/12/iran-detains-two-us-navy-ships-persian-gulf. live.
  5. Web site: Fars News, the Spider Net of Lies and Deception. 21 May 2019 . Iran Disinformation Project . 5 June 2023.
  6. Web site: Who Runs Iran's Propaganda Machine Abroad. Radio Farda . April 17, 2020 . 5 June 2023.
  7. Web site: 25 January 2020 . Iranian News Agency Targeted By US Sanction Resorts To Hacking To Get Domain Back . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200129212654/https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iranian-news-agency-targeted-by-us-sanction-resorts-to-hacking-to-get-domain-back-/30396680.html . 29 January 2020 . 30 January 2020 . RFE/RL.
  8. Web site: September 15, 2023 . Treasury Sanctions Iranian Officials and Companies Connected to Repression in Advance of the Anniversary of Mahsa "Zhina" Amini's Death . 2024-02-13 . . en.
  9. Web site: Media Environment Guide: Iran. BBC Monitoring. 7 September 2014. 30 July 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140801201438/http://www.combatfilms.com/mediaoperations/Media%20Environment%20Guide%20Iran.pdf. 1 August 2014.
  10. Web site: Farsnews. farsnews.ir. 25 January 2020. 20 August 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090820140128/http://english.farsnews.com/. live.
  11. Web site: FarsNewsAgency. farsnews.ir. 25 January 2020. 25 January 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200125100031/https://tr.farsnews.ir/. live.
  12. Web site: وكالة انباء فارس-ایران – Fars News Agency. farsnews.ir. 25 January 2020. 25 January 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200125094514/https://ar.farsnews.ir/. live.
  13. Web site: خبرگزاری فارس-افغانستان – Fars News Agency. farsnews.ir. 25 January 2020. 25 January 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200125173425/http://af.farsnews.ir/. live.
  14. News: Paraszczuk . Joanna . 25 June 2012 . Morsy Denies Iranian Interview on Peace 'Review' . . 29 August 2013 . 23 September 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120923193909/http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=275186 . live .
  15. News: Martinez . Michael . 29 September 2013 . Iran's News Agency Portrays Satirical Onion Story as Its Own . . 29 August 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121004193407/http://articles.cnn.com/2012-09-28/world/world_iran-news-agency-duped_1_onion-story-fars-news-agency-gallup-poll . 4 October 2012.
  16. News: Chris McGreal. McGreal. Chris. 28 September 2012. Iranian News Agency Fars Reports Onion Article on Ahmadinejad as Actual News – Satirical Newspaper's Claim That Americans Would Rather Hang Out with Ahmadinejad over Obama Taken Seriously in Tehran. The Guardian. 29 August 2013. 24 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180924033322/https://www.theguardian.com/world/us-news-blog/2012/sep/28/iran-fars-reports-onion-article-ahmadinejad?newsfeed=true. live.
  17. News: Philip Caulfield. 1 October 2012. Iran Fars news agency apologizes for running Onion article saying Americans prefer Ahmadinejad to Obama. Daily News. New York. 16 January 2014. 24 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180924033318/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/iran-news-agency-apologizes-running-onion-article-article-1.1172205. live.
  18. News: Satherley. Dan. Iran Denies Having Time Machine. https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171018132644/http://www.newshub.co.nz/world/iran-denies-having-time-machine-2013041812. dead. 18 October 2017. 3 News. 18 April 2013. 29 August 2013.
  19. News: Vahdat, Ahmed. Iranian Scientist Claims to Have Invented 'Time Machine' – An Iranian Businessman Claims to Have Mastered Time with a Machine That Allows Users to Fast Forward up to Eight Years into the Future. The Daily Telegraph. 10 April 2013. 29 August 2013. 18 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181018121449/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9985757/Iranian-scientist-claims-to-have-invented-time-machine.html. live.
  20. Web site: Iran's Fars News: U.S. is run by 'secret alien regime'. 15 January 2014. Al Arabiya English. 31 August 2021. 31 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210831092229/https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2014/01/15/Iran-s-Fars-News-U-S-is-run-by-secret-alien-regime-. live.
  21. News: U.S. Policies Driven By Aliens, Says Iran's Fars News Agency. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 14 January 2014 . 30 August 2017. 24 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180924033339/https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-fars-us-policy-aliens-hitler-snowden/25228985.html. live.
  22. Web site: Iranian News Agency: Snowden Docs Reveal Alien Conspiracy. Huffington Post. 13 January 2014. 2016-02-22. 7 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307044352/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/iran-nsa-aliens_n_4590910.html. live.
  23. News: Iranian news agency says the U.S. is secretly run by Nazi space aliens. Really.. The Washington Post. 2014-01-13. 2016-02-22. 0190-8286. en-US. Max. Fisher. 7 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307011137/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/01/13/iranian-news-agency-says-the-u-s-is-secretly-run-by-nazi-space-aliens-really/. live.
  24. News: Iranian media outlets add to bounty for killing Britain's Rushdie. Reuters. 2016-02-22. 2016-02-22. 12 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171012223840/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-rushdie-idUSKCN0VV1TI. live.
  25. Web site: Iran media pushes Holocaust denial: Jews perpetrated mass murder in Yemen. 2022-01-06. The Jerusalem Post JPost.com. 15 November 2020 . en-US. 6 January 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220106162722/https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-media-pushes-holocaust-denial-jews-did-the-real-holocaust-649144. live.

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