Propaganda in Iran

Propaganda in Iran originates from the Iranian government and "private" entities, which are usually state controlled.File:Qasem Soleimani killing a crocodile (USA) with Iran's flag.jpg killing a crocodile (USA) with Iran's flag]]

Propaganda can be disseminated through any medium, including television, film, newspaper, posters, murals, political actions, rallies, violence, and websites. Propaganda in the Islamic Republic of Iran also includes censorship. According to Garth Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell, "Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist."Garth Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion, 4th ed. Sage Publications, p. 7

Censorship in Iran

One of the biggest issues Iran is criticized for is censorship. Aided by Western technology from Nokia and Siemens, the Iranian government has created one of the most sophisticated censorship platforms created in modern times.{{cite news|last=Rhoads|first=Christopher|title=Iran's Web Spying Aided By Western Technology|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124562668777335653.html|publisher=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=2011-11-30|date=22 June 2009|archive-date=2010-11-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126091057/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124562668777335653.html|url-status=live}}

Methods

File:US Embassy Tehran.JPG in 2004. The Iconoclasm shown is a form of propaganda]]

File:Teheran US embassy propaganda gun.jpg

= Violence/Fear =

On October 8, 2006, cleric Seyyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi was arrested for opposing Velaayat-e Faghih, advocating the separation of religion from state, and defending the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/10/irgc-propaganda-arm-includes-15000-reporters.html|title=Intel Chief: No Link Between $3Bil and Mashaei; IRGC 'Reporter' Training|website=PBS|access-date=2017-09-08|archive-date=2018-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501093156/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/10/irgc-propaganda-arm-includes-15000-reporters.html|url-status=live}}

The Iranian government has also falsely attributed crimes to dissident groups such as the MEK; in a particularly instance with a witness saying he was "pressured and promised a reduced sentence if he would say that his eye injuries had not been caused by the Islamic Republic of Iran but by 'the hypocrites' [—] a word they used to refer to Mojahedin Organization."{{cite web|url=https://patriotpost.us/opinion/105612-un-must-extend-mandates-of-special-rapporteur-on-iran-2024-03-29|title=UN Must Extend Mandates of Special Rapporteur on Iran|website=Patriot Post|author=Ken Blackwell}}

= Judicial system of Iran =

Iranian Justice System has also been known to espouse propaganda. This is especially true in the prison system of Iran where Political prisoners were "incessantly bombarded with propaganda from all sides ... radio and closed-circuit television ... loudspeakers blaring into all cells even into solitary cells and `the coffins` [where some prisoners were kept] ... ideological sessions." Any reading material of a secular nature such as Western novelists, or even religious material that didn't agree ideologically with the Islamic Republic such as work by Ali Shariati was banned.{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|title=Tortured confessions : prisons and public recantations in modern Iran|date=16 June 2008|publisher=Univ. of California Press|location=Berkeley, Calif. [u.a.]|isbn=978-0-520-21866-6|edition=[Nachdr.]}}{{cite news|url=http://www.voanews.com/policy/editorials/A-Torrent-Of-Repression-In-Iran-133845403.html|title=Editorials on Voice of America|newspaper=Voa|access-date=2011-11-18|archive-date=2022-09-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914203521/https://editorials.voa.gov/|url-status=dead}}

= The Basij =

The Basij are a component of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).{{cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/Irans_Basij_Force_Mainstay_Of_Domestic_Security/1357081.html|title=Pillar Of The State|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=5 February 2009 |access-date=2018-05-01|archive-date=2016-09-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923021108/http://www.rferl.org/content/Irans_Basij_Force_Mainstay_Of_Domestic_Security/1357081.html|url-status=live|last1=Aryan |first1=Hossein }} With the IRGC's help and support, Basij members are trained in propaganda and political warfare techniques using media outlets. There are about 21,000 volunteer "reporters" that have trained with the IRGC on multiple waves of communication and media, which include social networks, television, radio, print media, and the internet.{{cite web|url=http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=13900715000326|title=خبرگزاری فارس - سازماندهی 21 هزار خبرنگار افتخاری در بسیج|date=7 October 2011|access-date=28 November 2011|archive-date=19 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019201027/http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=13900715000326|url-status=live}}

According to Reporters Without Borders, "In Iran, the Revolutionary Guards recently announced their ambition to build their own spinternet by launching 10,000 blogs for the Basij, a paramilitary force under the Guards. This comes at a time when the Internet has become a major force in exposing corruption in the highest ranks of the Iranian leadership."{{cite news|last=Morozov|first=Evgeny|title=Propaganda.com|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/opinion/30iht-edmorozov.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=2011-11-28|date=30 March 2009|archive-date=2011-12-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214030752/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/opinion/30iht-edmorozov.html|url-status=live}} As well, cyber-police "are here to create a cyber police force inside the people’s mind,” said Hesamedin Mojtahed, the officer in charge of the booth. “People want to be informed of the dangers on the Internet,” he said. “We are here for them.”{{cite news|last=Erdbrink|first=Thomas|title=Iran Cyber Police Cite U.S. Threat|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iran-cyber-police-cite-us-threat/2011/10/27/gIQA1yruSM_story_1.html|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2011-11-28|date=29 October 2011|archive-date=2016-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311141622/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iran-cyber-police-cite-us-threat/2011/10/27/gIQA1yruSM_story_1.html|url-status=live}}

Media of Iran

= Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting =

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) is the sole, official provider, of broadcast news in Iran. IRIB operates many channels in a multitude of languages and is known to broadcast propaganda.{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1906187,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624220842/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1906187,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=June 24, 2009 | magazine=Time | first=Azadeh | last=Moaveni | title=State Television Becomes a Focus for Iranian Anger | date=22 June 2009}}{{cite news|last=Taheri|first=Amir|title=Propaganda War Latest: Tehran 3 Israel 0|newspaper=The Times (London)|date=June 8, 2010|type=Newspaper}} IRIB is the main hub for which all Iranian propaganda is created and disseminated. The multiple channels that make up IRIB all have a specific purpose. On every IRIB channel, Israel is referred to as the "Zionist Regime".{{cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/irans-propaganda-purveyors/ | work=CBS News | title=Iran's Propaganda Purveyors | access-date=2011-12-01 | archive-date=2011-05-24 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524173010/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/27/opinion/main3105225.shtml | url-status=live }}

= Conferences and Lectures =

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Columbia University in Fall 2007 was, according to BBC News, an attempt to convince international opinion and the United States population of the rightness of his cause.{{cite news|title=Iran president in NY campus row|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7010962.stm|publisher=BBC|access-date=2011-11-30|author=BBC|format=Web Page|date=25 September 2007|archive-date=2011-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208190524/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7010962.stm|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Bonifield|first=Alexandra|title=Ahmadinejad visit, speech part of propaganda machine|newspaper=USA Today|date=October 1, 2007}}

The Islamic Republic of Iran held an anti-terrorism conference which featured representatives from "neighboring countries Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan as well as Sudan, Tajikistan, Mauritania and the Vice-President of Cuba and Ministers and other high-level delegates from 60 States, representatives of the United Nations (Officer in Charge of CTITF), the OIC, and other regional organizations as well as distinguished scholars and researchers and peace activists from all around the world participated in the Conference."{{Cite web |url=http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9004052538 |title=Fars News Agency :: Tehran Anti-Terror Conference Ends Work with Final Statement |access-date=2011-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728074839/http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9004052538 |archive-date=2011-07-28 |url-status=dead }} With Iran being a state-sponsor of terrorist activities, and many of the nations in attendance, including many of the African representatives, users of terrorism, the anti-terrorism conference is propaganda.{{cite web|url=http://www.voanews.com/policy/editorials/middle-east/Iranian-Government--124890829.html|title=Editorials on Voice of America|access-date=2011-12-01|archive-date=2011-09-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110915000356/http://www.voanews.com/policy/editorials/middle-east/Iranian-Government--124890829.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1319279&ct=10890065|website=UN Watch|title=Group calls on UN to distance itself from controversial Iran conference - UN Watch|access-date=2011-11-23|archive-date=2012-04-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406124029/http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1319279&ct=10890065|url-status=live}} It was quite successful as well because the United Nations endorsed the meeting and sent a delegation to partake in the event. During the event, "Iran's Supreme leader Ali Khamenei took the opportunity to excoriate western nations for "terrorist behaviors," and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expressed his doubts about the September 2001 terrorist attacks on America – outrageously claiming that the U.S has benefited from those attacks, as it has, he added, from the Holocaust."{{cite web|title=Iranian Government Holds Terrorism Conference|url=http://www.voanews.com/policy/editorials/middle-east/Iranian-Government--124890829.html|publisher=Voice of America|access-date=December 1, 2011|author=Voice of America|archive-date=September 15, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110915000356/http://www.voanews.com/policy/editorials/middle-east/Iranian-Government--124890829.html|url-status=dead}}

== Cyber Police ==

Iran has created a Cyber Police unit in January 2011, known by the acronym FATA. Since then it has arrested several bloggers critical of Iran’s leaders, as well as a group of youths who had created a “hot or not” contest on Facebook rating profile pictures of boys and girls[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/world/middleeast/iran-says-sattar-beheshti-was-not-tortured-before-death.html?_r=0 Jailed Blogger Not Tortured Before Death, Iran Says] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423064748/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/world/middleeast/iran-says-sattar-beheshti-was-not-tortured-before-death.html?_r=0 |date=2017-04-23 }}| By THOMAS ERDBRINK

|November 12, 2012 The unit was created to "control which sites Iranians are able to visit, to prevent spying and protect the public from `immoral` material. The United States, they charge, is waging a `soft war` against Iran by reaching out to Iranians online and inciting them to overthrow their leaders{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iran-cyber-police-cite-us-threat/2011/10/27/gIQA1yruSM_story.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | title=Iran cyber police cite U.S. threat | date=29 October 2011 | first=William | last=Wan | access-date=8 September 2017 | archive-date=2 May 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502210857/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iran-cyber-police-cite-us-threat/2011/10/27/gIQA1yruSM_story.html | url-status=live }} ". From the Iranian regime's standpoint, any free information is a threat to power. The internet was a major factor for organizing and showing the world what was happening during the 2009 presidential election. The United States asked Twitter to postpone online maintenance in 2009 so that it would be available for Iranian protesters.{{cite news|last=Erdbrink|first=Thomas|title=Iran cyber police cite U.S. threat|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iran-cyber-police-cite-us-threat/2011/10/27/gIQA1yruSM_story.html|access-date=2011-11-30|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=October 29, 2011|archive-date=2015-10-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001045243/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iran-cyber-police-cite-us-threat/2011/10/27/gIQA1yruSM_story.html|url-status=live}} On 1 December 2012, General Saeed Shokrian, commander of FATA, was dismissed by Iranian’s national police chief, Ismael Ahmadi-Moqaddam, for negligence in death of blogger Sattar Beheshti while in FATA custody one month earlier. The dismissal followed international outcry over the death. Shokrian stated “Tehran’s FATA should be held responsible for the death of Sattar Beheshti”.[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/world/middleeast/after-death-of-sattar-beheshti-iranian-blogger-head-of-tehrans-cybercrimes-unit-is-fired.html?_r=0 Head of Tehran’s Cybercrimes Unit Is Fired Over Death of Blogger] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713215353/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/world/middleeast/after-death-of-sattar-beheshti-iranian-blogger-head-of-tehrans-cybercrimes-unit-is-fired.html?_r=0 |date=2019-07-13 }}| By THOMAS ERDBRINK| nytimes.com| 1 December 2012

Iranian propaganda abroad

=Worldwide=

Iranian state-controlled media such as Press TV or Mehr News Agency actively target global audiences in multiple languages, including English, French, or Spanish. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these outlets featured Iranian propaganda criticising democracies' response to the pandemic as weak and hypocritical, promoting the Iranian approach in fighting the outbreak, and spreading conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus.{{Cite journal| last1 = Bright| first1 = Jonathan| last2 = Au| first2 = Hubert| last3 = Bailey| first3 = Hannah| last4 = Elswah| first4 = Mona| last5 = Schliebs| first5 = Marcel| last6 = Marchal| first6 = Nahema| last7 = Schwieter| first7 = Christian| last8 = Rebello| first8 = Katarina| last9 = Howard| first9 = Philip N| title = Coronavirus Coverage by State-Backed English-Language News Sources| series = Data Memo 2020.2| date = 2020| url = https://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/93/2020/04/Coronavirus-Coverage-by-State-Backed-English-Language-News-Sources.pdf| access-date = 2020-11-15| archive-date = 2020-10-18| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201018234112/https://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/93/2020/04/Coronavirus-Coverage-by-State-Backed-English-Language-News-Sources.pdf| url-status = live}} One study by the Oxford Internet Institute {{Cite journal| volume = 2020| last1 = Rebello| first1 = Katarina| last2 = Schwieter| first2 = Christian| last3 = Schliebs| first3 = Marcel| last4 = Joynes-Burgess| first4 = Kate| last5 = Elswah| first5 = Mona| last6 = Bright| first6 = Jonathan| last7 = Howard| first7 = Philip N| title = Covid-19 News and Information from State-Backed Outlets Targeting French, German and Spanish-Speaking Social Media Users| journal = Project on Computational Propaganda, Oxford, UK, Data Memo| date = 2020| url = https://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/93/2020/06/Covid-19-Misinfo-Targeting-French-German-and-Spanish-Social-Media-Users-Final.pdf| access-date = 2020-11-15| archive-date = 2020-09-19| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200919154431/https://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/93/2020/06/Covid-19-Misinfo-Targeting-French-German-and-Spanish-Social-Media-Users-Final.pdf| url-status = live}} found that Iranian outlets were heavily active in spreading conspiracy theories suggesting that the virus may have originated in a military biolaboratory.

In June 2021 the U.S. Justice Department said it seized and took offline 36 websites linked to Iran, "many of them associated with either disinformation activities or violent organizations".{{cite news |title=US has to shut down biowarfare labs to save the world from pandemics |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/notices-iran-linked-websites-say-they-have-been-seized-by-us-2021-06-22/ |website=Reuters |date=23 June 2021 |access-date=23 June 2021 |archive-date=22 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622235109/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/notices-iran-linked-websites-say-they-have-been-seized-by-us-2021-06-22/ |url-status=live }}

=The Arab World =

In August 2018, Twitter suspended 770 accounts originating in Iran for engaging in coordinated manipulation {{Cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/27/twitter-suspends-more-accounts-for-engaging-in-coordinated-manipulation/|title=Techcrunch|date=2018-08-27|access-date=2019-10-29|archive-date=2019-10-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029120017/https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/27/twitter-suspends-more-accounts-for-engaging-in-coordinated-manipulation/|url-status=live}} In October 2018, Twitter publicly shared data on the 770 accounts on their Election Integrity Hub {{Cite web|url=https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2018/enabling-further-research-of-information-operations-on-twitter.html|title=Enabling further research of information operations on Twitter|last=Twitter|date=October 2018|access-date=2019-10-29|archive-date=2019-11-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105193945/https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2018/enabling-further-research-of-information-operations-on-twitter.html|url-status=live}} In a study focusing on the Arab world, the researchers found that more than half of these accounts generated Arabic content to target Arab Twitter users {{Cite web|url=https://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/working-papers/iranian-digital-interference-in-the-arab-world/|title=Iranian Digital Interference in the Arab World|last1=Elswah|first1=Mona|last2=Howard|first2=Philip N.|date=2019|website=Project on Computational Propaganda|last3=Narayanan|first3=Vidya|access-date=2019-10-29|archive-date=2020-08-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804090139/https://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/working-papers/iranian-digital-interference-in-the-arab-world/|url-status=live}} In this study, it was found that the Arabic tweets were not aiming to socially engage with other Arab users but rather to promote certain websites, and more than 69% of the links shared were to pro-Iran Arabic-language news websites The accounts that tweeted in Arabic imitated Arabic local news outlets trying to build credibility in the region

==Alavi Foundation==

The Alavi Foundation is the successor organization to the Pahlavi Foundation, a nonprofit group used by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to advance Iran's charitable interests in America. Most of the charities income is from rent collected on the New York Fifth Avenue skyscraper the Piaget Building, which was built in 1978 under the Shah, who was overthrown in 1979.

The FBI laid out a case against the Alavi Foundation that it was being used as a front group for the Iranian government. It was built in the 1970s by the Pahlavi Foundation to further the interest of then Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.{{cite journal|last=Farrell|first=Michael|title=What's known about Iran-linked Alavi Foundation?|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2009/1114/p02s10-usgn.html|journal=The Christian Science Monitor|date=14 November 2009|access-date=December 1, 2011|archive-date=26 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226202458/http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2009/1114/p02s10-usgn.html|url-status=live}} Some of the tenants of the foundation's properties are Islamic centers and schools.{{cite news|last=Glovin|first=David|title=Alavi Foundation Is Iran Front, U.S. Says in Lawsuit (Correct)|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aA6SZIk_JW04|publisher=Bloomberg News|access-date=December 1, 2011|date=30 December 2009}}

External links

{{Wikinews-inline|Iranian President Ahmadinejad speaks at Columbia University}}
[http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/misc/publications/centerpiece/win07_vol21_no1/feature_christia.html Examples of Murals by Harvard Student]

References

Category:Anti-American sentiment in Iran

Category:Anti-Israeli sentiment in Iran

Category:Political history of Iran