The UK's media regulator, Ofcom, has upheld a complaint by Iran International against Al Jazeera over allegations made against Iran International by a Tehran-based “analyst”, who is considered a regime insider.
In a video interview with Al Jazeera’s News Hour on January 7, 2023, government mouthpiece Mohammad Marandi defended the executions of Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini, both accused of participating in anti-government protests and allegedly being involved in the killing of Basij member, Ruhollah Ajamian.
A figure close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Marandi accused London-based Persian networks such as Iran International, of provoking unrest in Iran during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, further claiming these media “have repeatedly called, … have legitimized and praised beating police officers, burning them alive and murdering them.”
Following Marandi’s remarks, Iran International filed a complaint with Ofcom about Al Jazeera, arguing that “it was treated unjustly or unfairly in the program as broadcast.”
According to the complaint, “at no point during the program did the presenter challenge, correct or seek to contextualize Mr. Marandi’s incorrect and harmful comments about Iran International.”
Iran International also emphasized that no case has ever been filed against the network in Ofcom on the charges claimed by the commentator and that the network has never been accused of violating the principles of news coverage.
“Marandi … had made statements before in which he defended the actions and policies of the Iranian government, and criticized public figures and governments in Western democracies,” Iran International said, adding that “Marandi’s alleged reputation should have alerted Al Jazeera in advance to the probability that he would make comments on air which would be potentially unfair or unjust to individuals or organizations.”
In his interview on Al Jazeera’s News Hour, Marandi named and lambasted at least five human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, and other Persian-language media outlets in his interview, such as VoA and BBC Persian.
Al Jazeera said its presenter was not able to challenge Marandi’s assertions on each allegation he made.
But Ofcom did not accept this and upheld Iran International’s complaint, ruling that media outlets should take reasonable care before broadcasting a program to make sure that the materials would not be unfair to individuals and organizations. Ofcom said that Marandi’s “serious allegations” about Iran International made on News Hour “were not challenged or put into context”, resulting in unfairness to Iran International.
Ofcom referred to the fact that Marandi was there to provide a pro-Iranian government view and that while Al Jazeera introduced Marandi as a “political analyst” and “professor at the University of Tehran,” it did not point to his affiliation with the Iranian government. According to the regulator, this manner of introduction “may have led some viewers to expect Mr. Marandi’s comments to have been objective.”
Mohammad Marandi appears with some regularity on other Western news channels, including the BBC. Marandi is the son of Alireza Marandi, Iran’s former Health Minister and the head of the medical team of the Supreme Leader.
Ofcom also referred to the record of the Iranian government's actions and measures against Iran International and its designating the Channel as a terrorist organisation.
Earlier in the month, a leaked document revealed that Tehran’s Revolutionary Court convicted 44 foreign-based journalists and media activists in absentia two years ago over the allegation of “propaganda against the government.”
The names included prominent figures affiliated with Iran International, such as Mahmoud Enayat, Aliasghar Ramezanpour, Mehdi Parpanchi, Fardad Farahzad and Morteza Kazemian.
The document was revealed among a trove of files accessed after the hacktivist group Edalat-e Ali, or Ali’s Justice, breached the servers of the Iranian judiciary on February 20.
Another top secret intelligence document obtained by the hacktivist group showed Tehran targeted dozens of Iran International TV staff with financial bans and threats to their families amid protests in 2019.
In December 2023, UK’s ITV revealed that the IRGC was plotting to assassinate two Iran International television anchors in London in 2022 amid Iranian anti-government protests.