Report: Khamenei Family Members and Relatives Control Iran’s Media Ownership and Operations
According to investigations published this week by an independent think tank based in Washington called the Doublethink Institute, members of the family of Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, own or control newspapers, publishing institutions, news agencies, and major cultural organizations in Iran while simultaneously acting as overseers of them.
The Doublethink Institute found that the scope of control by Khamenei family members extends to major media outlets including newspapers such as Hamshahri, Iran, and Jam-e Jam, the English-language Tehran Times newspaper, as well as the Mehr news agency.
The database of Khamenei family dominance, prepared by the Doublethink Institute, has revealed the following controlling connections:
Maryam Hosseini Khamenei
Hayat-e No Cultural-Artistic Institute
Seyyed Hadi Hosseini Khamenei
Hayat-e No Cultural-Artistic Institute
Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Hosseini Khamenei
Hayat-e No Cultural-Artistic Institute
Seyyed Monire Hosseini Khamenei
Clean Virtual Space Association (FAMP)
Mohammad Saeed Ahadian
Khorasan Cultural-Artistic Institute
Khorasan Publishing
Mohammad Hossein Khoshvaqt
Fararu
Iran Press Cultural Institute
Publishers Press Cultural Institute
Hossein Khojasteh Bagherzadeh
Soroush Publications
Farabi Cinema Foundation
Kamil Khojasteh Bagherzadeh
Tabian Nour Cultural-Artistic Institute
Islamic Revolution Discourse Research and Explanation Institute
Leader.ir website
Khamenei.ir website
Seyyed Mohammad Hassan Hosseini Khamenei
Cultural Space Development
Freidoldin Haddad Adel
Tehran Times
Jam-e Jam Newspaper
Mehr News Agency
Omidgostar News Website
Mohsen Chini Foroushan
Hamshahri
Hamshahri Message
The Doublethink Institute states that Khamenei family members also hold presidency positions at the Avini Cultural and Artistic Institute and the Farabi Cinema Foundation, both of which are active in film production.
According to the report, meanwhile, members of this family have held senior political positions in two supervisory bodies responsible for monitoring and censoring media in Iran. The “Clean Virtual Space Developers Association” is responsible for internet censorship and “Khorasan Publishing” also oversees book publishing.
The Doublethink Institute’s report shows that the Khamenei family controls the book buying and selling market through major publishing institutions including Soroush, Hermes, and Daftar-e Nashr. The report states: “This dominance over oversight institutions and publishers has effectively given the Khamenei family a monopoly in the field of publishing.”
Kelli Gol-Noveshan Niknejad, journalist and director of the Doublethink Institute, told the Persian service of Voice of America: “The people of Iran suffer from their country’s sanctions more than anyone else. If sanctions were lifted, they should potentially benefit from the resulting wealth in Iran, but under current conditions, due to the high level of corruption, only a select group from particular families benefit from international trade.”
The director of the institute that produced this report added: “We are making efforts to map the country’s economic structure with the aim of further clarifying what is happening in Iran. Our research shows how rent-seeking and nepotism, conflicts of interest and cover-ups will ultimately halt Iran’s economic progress. We hope that when sanctions are lifted, a more transparent organizational structure will be established in the country so that all Iranian people can benefit from this wealth.”
Source: Voice of America
