A journalist in Iran was fired for criticizing Environmental Protection Agency officials.
Zeinab Rahimi, an environmental reporter for ISNA News Agency, was fired after criticizing the Director General of Public Relations of the Environmental Protection Agency on her Twitter page.
According to news published on social media, this ISNA news agency reporter was fired from the agency for publishing critical material regarding the remarks of Amir Abdolreza Sepanji, Director General of Public Relations of the Environmental Protection Organization, in a recent interview with a television program.
On Friday, April 10, Zeinab Rahimi published some of the images related to the interview of this Environmental Protection Agency official on her Twitter page, asking him to either provide evidence regarding the statements and slanders he made towards environmental journalists on this program about creating an atmosphere with "foreign funding" or to apologize to the journalists.
The Director General of Public Relations for the Environmental Protection Agency said in a recent television program that a number of Iranian journalists were creating a crisis with "foreign funding." These comments have prompted reactions from some Iranian journalists, including Zeinab Rahimi.
Reporters Without Borders announced in its latest report, published on Tuesday, May 2, titled "World Press Freedom Rankings 2020," that Iran, which was ranked 170th in terms of press freedom in 2019, has dropped three places this year to 173rd.
According to the report, the Islamic Republic regime has extensive control over the media and has made Iran a completely unsafe place for journalists by harassing journalists and independent media outlets, as well as holding unfair trials, intimidating journalists, arbitrary arrests, and issuing long prison sentences.
Source: Voice of America
