TEHRAN, Iran – A public rift has emerged between Iran’s government and state television over how to portray a state of war and negotiations with the United States as mediators try to nudge the two countries towards diplomacy.
The Government Information Council on Friday accused state broadcaster IRIB of “censorship” after parts of President Massoud Pezeshkian’s speech earlier in the week were not shown to the public.
The broadcaster, whose head is appointed by the Supreme Leader, published a response on Saturday rejecting the government’s “accusations and misattributions” and stressed its obligation to stop “false and unrealistic suggestions of duplicity in the pillars of the country’s leadership”.
In his speech, Mr. Pezeshkian pointed out that after last year’s 12-day war with Israel, former supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei had publicly said there would be no negotiations with Washington, but had privately given approval.
“We went to our dear leader and explained the situation and asked him what we should do because he said that a ‘no war, no peace’ situation is not good for the country,” the president said. “He ordered us to go to negotiations. We began negotiations based on his orders.”
The government said in a statement that the move to cut that part of the speech was part of a series of “unusual actions” taken by state television regarding recent statements by top government, parliament and judiciary officials.
The paper also pointed out that earlier this month, parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Berger Ghalibaf’s interview on state television about the negotiations had also been cut. The Government Council added that parts of the speech by Attorney General Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, who expressed support for the president earlier this week, were also not broadcast.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also criticized the IRIB separately, saying in an interview with a state-run news agency published on Saturday that it “fought with a sword” in wartime interviews with U.S. media outlets such as Fox and CNN. The top diplomat said he had hoped that state television would show how the Iran issue was being conveyed strongly to American viewers and policymakers, but in the end only one or two subtitles of the interview were aired.
Araghchi also rejected the notion raised by hardliners that the now-suspended memorandum signed with the United States last month was “imposed” on new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, as some hardliners claim. He characterized it as the best possible agreement under the circumstances.
In its own statement, the government condemned the actions of “political factions within state television,” apparently referring to the ultra-hardline Paidari Front, and said their actions could undermine national security and social cohesion.
In a statement released by its communications department, IRIB countered that broadcasting the president’s segment would spread the tone of division.
Both sides accused each other of undermining a decree issued last week by Mojtaba Khamenei to achieve “sacred unity” in the face of military, economic and diplomatic pressure from the United States.
Mohammad Mirzai, a member of parliament and spokesman for the committee tasked with monitoring IRIB, said on Saturday that the state broadcaster’s directors had been warned about the need to present a different perspective and act as a “sign of national unity.”
Conservative journalist Mohammad Mohajeri told local media that broadcasters are currently the most expensive and least effective. Reform activist Mohammad Sadegh Javadi Hessar said the deeper problem was that “there is one government established and another government called IRIB is operating against it.”
Citing unnamed sources, the reformist Entechhub news agency reported that Pezeshkian harshly reprimanded IRIB Director Peyman Djeberi during a cabinet meeting following an argument over negotiations. Jeberi, who was appointed by Ali Khamenei in 2021, was the Supreme National Security Council’s deputy for media at a time when Saeed Jalili, the only council member who voted against the interim agreement with the United States last month, was secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.
Hardline lawmaker Maysam Souhrian said the president had threatened to cut the budget for state television, but the administration had not confirmed this.
Amid public sparring, Omani mediators were in Tehran on Friday to discuss management of the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is a vital waterway whose management is a central point of contention between the United States and Iran.
US President Donald Trump on Friday insisted the war was progressing “very well” and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would visit Washington in the coming days.
He said the two countries are continuing talks through a mediator but does not expect an agreement to be reached soon.
The US president also declined to answer whether following through on his threat to systematically attack Iranian power plants and bridges if war escalates would constitute a war crime.
In response, Mohammad Bagher Zolgadol, secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security, said on Saturday that missile and drone launches across the region would continue “until the enemy completely surrenders and avenges the blood of civilians killed during the war.”
