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- Getting under the press: The war with the United States has changed Iran's media policy
Getting under the press: The war with the United States has changed Iran's media policy
Iran has become more open to the press after the outbreak of a large-scale war with the United States. Special attention is now being paid to Western journalists — with their help, for example, it is possible to demonstrate national unity during the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The rallying of the Iranians, judging by their emotions, is absolutely sincere, and it confirms the failure of the American-Israeli plan to overthrow the regime in the Islamic Republic. The journalists were able to communicate freely with the participants of the funeral processions and local residents. Although it was not without some limitations. How Iran has proved itself to stand up to foreigners is in the Izvestia report.
Which foreign journalists were allowed into Iran
The organization by the Iranian authorities of a press tour for foreign journalists after the war with the United States is an event in itself. The country has always remained quite closed. And after the large-scale strikes and the death of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the attitude towards people speaking a foreign language with cameras should have become more cautious. Nevertheless, many foreigners were allowed into Iran.
In Tehran, it was possible to speak freely with locals and participants of funeral processions. The people here are very sociable and almost never refused an interview. We were taken directly to ceremonies, street rallies, squares.
At the same time, the conditions for different groups of journalists were noticeably different. For example, our European colleagues lived in another hotel. They were given so-called white SIM cards — without the usual Internet locks. In Iran, they are used by people who need freer access to the Internet for work: officials, some journalists, foreign guests and other representatives of the official environment. For the average user, many Western services in the country are blocked, so having such a SIM card greatly simplifies the work: you can download and upload photos and videos faster and use messengers. Russian journalists did not have such SIM cards.
There were even at least five Americans in Iran. Among them was Jason Hinkle, a member of the Communist Party of the USA, who lives in Moscow. Their program, like that of some European journalists, was much more intense. This became especially noticeable during the funeral of Ali Khamenei.
The Russian journalists were brought to the roof, from where they were supposed to have a good view of the procession. But it turned out on the spot that she would pass along another street and could not be removed from this angle. Some of our colleagues left the point and got to another roof. From there, the procession itself and the coffins of Ali Khamenei and his family members could be seen. And European journalists have already settled comfortably there in advance. According to colleagues, there were also Britons among them.
Press restrictions in Iran
But, of course, the journalists were not given complete freedom of action. Firstly, the organization of filming requires the support of a local agency. This group is responsible for the accreditation, routes, translation, transportation and coordination of filming. The price tag for her work can reach €10,000 in seven days. In the case of our trip, the services were paid for by the Iranian side. Formally, such agencies help the foreign press, but in fact it also allows the authorities to control the process.
First of all, it concerned the filming of buildings affected by US strikes. Because of the war in Iran, they are wary of people photographing administrative buildings, especially the sites of attacks. However, this is not uncommon anywhere: in countries that have experienced strikes or are in a state of military threat, filming of military, administrative facilities and arrival sites almost always raises questions and often implies legal responsibility.
Walking near the Grand Bazaar of Tehran unaccompanied, one of our colleagues decided to capture a building nearby. The bazaar is located next to the Golestan Palace, which was damaged as a result of the American attack. Almost immediately, an elderly man ran up to the journalist and began to snatch the phone from his hands. He didn't want to listen to anything and started dragging our colleague to a small building nearby. To all attempts to explain himself, he just shook his head and shouted something in Farsi.
Another man immediately came out of the building and took our phones.
—Passport," he said.
We tried to explain that they were picked up at the hotel on the first day. By the way, this was done intentionally. Officially, we couldn't walk around Tehran alone. Of course, no one strictly enforced this ban, and no one specifically controlled us — the Persian mentality played in our favor. But we could only get the documents back before leaving for the airport. Somehow, the man understood what we were trying to tell him after we showed him our local press cards, official documents issued by the Iranian side. The photos on them, however, were generated by artificial intelligence. The man squinted, briefly looked at the cards and returned the items.
Another group of Russian journalists had their equipment temporarily taken away. It happened on July 7 in the evening, after the procession in Qom, when they were returning to Tehran. At the entrance to the city, the group stopped to photograph a stele with the inscription "Beloved Tehran." There was an empty, inconspicuous pickup truck nearby, which, as it turned out later, was military. Almost immediately, the military ran out from behind the stele and began waving to the journalists. Of course, no one understood exactly what they wanted from them, but everyone already guessed that they had done something wrong. It was only after the intervention of the escorts and short "negotiations" that the equipment was returned.
Filming of the military was strictly forbidden. However, in fact, everything turned out to be not so clear. There are a lot of men in uniform on the streets — at the places of processions and near administrative buildings — and they were caught in the frame more than once. Usually, no one reacted to this.
After the new US strikes on Iran on July 8, we did not see a noticeable increase in security measures in Tehran. There were no more military personnel on the streets, the checks did not become tougher, and the escorts did not raise this topic. People are already used to living in a state of constant threat: another attack had almost no effect on ordinary citizens.
What Iran has shown the world
After the war with the United States and Israel, it was important for Iran to show the outside world a country that withstood the attacks and was able to organize a mass march with a leader who died as a result of armed aggression.
Of course, not everyone in Iran loved Khamenei, just as not everyone will love the new Rahbar, Mojtaba Khamenei. However, the current government remains popular with the population. Those who came to say goodbye to the Ayatollah did so sincerely. At the procession, people cried, held portraits, chanted slogans, and tried to explain to journalists why it was important to them.
Tehran uses this as a response to the West. At the beginning of the war, Donald Trump counted on the fact that strikes and pressure could provoke an internal crisis and undermine the position of the Iranian authorities. But the indiscriminate attacks, including the tragedy with the school in Minaba, and the deaths of civilians, on the contrary, have reduced the protest potential. The new Iranian authorities are highlighting this in every possible way, and using fairly modern methods. Few people expected that representatives of Tehran would constantly tweet and bombard the information space with rather witty memes ridiculing the authorities in the White House.
And despite the difference in programs for journalists from different countries, Iran itself remained open to everyone. On the streets, in crowds and at funeral processions, people approached the press on their own initiative to tell about themselves and their country. As a result, the United States, perhaps without expecting it, pushed Tehran to have a more active conversation with the outside world, and interest in Iran has only grown.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
