Media Sources in Iran

Media in Iran after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president in June 2005 has gone through new changes: restrictions, closures, and new technologically.

After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the media in Iran has faced financial and political problems. Several newspapers which differed from the government, reformist newspapers, have closed and the journalists have been jailed.

The newspapers are in a hard place because the government’s and the public’s demands differ; the government wants the media to keep in line with its views on news while the public want the newspapers to report independently, not the official news given by the government. That is why reading the news paper is decreasing; the official stats from Tehran figure that there are only 30 daily papers in print.

So, where do Iranians get there news: Internet, America, and other Iranians.

It has been estimated that seven million Iranians are online but people still face obstacles in getting news online because the government has started to filter web sites.

They can get news from America as well; Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice asked Congress recently for $75 million dollars to broadcasts and fund anti-government groups in Iran. However an official who had been part of the Clinton administration told the Washington Post that the anti-governments the Bush administration wants to fund have very little support inside Iran and cannot successfully challenge the Iranian government. Furthermore Iranians do not really trust America and Iran uses jamming technology to block America’s broadcasts.

Then there are the Iranians living outside of Iran who have more credibility than American broadcasts and who the American government has also started to fund. Iranians living outside use the internet to provide Iranians with news and an outlet for Iranians to express themselves. However most are anti-government and openly support the Shah’s son. They also face problems because their news sources come from average Iranians; they do not usually have journalists on ‘the ground.’

In general it seems that Iranians access to the press and information is limited and they face many restrictions and biases.

International Dilemma

Iran decided to discontinue negotiations with Russia after the IAEA decided to report Iran to the Security Council; and it has resumed uranium enrichment work.

So what should the international community do?

It can sit back and take Iran’s word that the nuclear research is for energy production and not for the development of nuclear weapons. However this could have been accomplished if Iran had accepted Russia’s proposal.

Economic sanctions can be put in place but this would have devastating results on the civilian population as well as enrage Muslims around the world, like the economic sanctions in Iraq did; and it would not cause Iran to stop uranium enrichment. And it would give terrorist cells more justifications for attacking “the West.”

Iran can be invaded as well but that would have worse results than the economic sanctions.

The international community can make a deal similar to the one made by the US with India…which allows access to civilian nuclear technology and the building of nuclear power plants by foreign companies; in the deal military and civilian nuclear research is kept completely separate. This choice is risky and modifications to ‘the deal’ need to be made for the international community to accept and it requires a lot of trust but the deal may allow them to monitor Iran’s nuclear research better then in the past.

Whatever route the international community takes it needs to consider the impact the decision will have on Iran’s citizens, the Muslim world, and the international community.

Freedom of Speech in Iran (or lack of)

An Iranian newspaper, Hamshahri, is having a contest to test the limits of free speech. However testing should begin in one's own country first. Iran has restricted various forms of speech and is now arresting and jailing bloggers. Campaign groups say at least two dozen Iranian bloggers have been jailed as a result of the clamp-down. The newspaper should be trying to resolve the problem and trying to decrease the violence that is occurring because the actions being taken are making the Muslim community seem like terrorists and intolerant of others rights and views. Even the Prophet experienced in his lifetime hatred and attacks yet he did not resort to violence and prejudices.

With this being said; other countries where freedom of speech is 'unlimited' should think before publishing articles about others... the effect its going to have on the public and what the purpose of the article is. The cartoons were not educating the public about Islam which is especially needed at this time because the teachings of Islam and its Prophet are not well known. The publishing of the cartoons seems to be only for inciting violence and reinforcing the racist views the public has about Islam. The Danish newspaper cannot deny that they didn't know Muslims would be outraged and violent. There have been many examples of what happens when Muslims feel their religion is being attacked...murder of Theo Van Gogh and the Fatwas issued against Salman Rushdie after the publishing of his book The Satanic Verses.

Both the Danish newspaper and the Iranian newspaper are right but both are also wrong.