IRNA chief: Western media take double standard policy

“Western mainstream media are using the information selectively, based on their double standard policies, said Mohammad Khoddadi, managing director of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in an interview with the Russian news agency Sputnik.

Khodadi is currently in Moscow to boost media cooperation with Russia and to attend the conference of world leading news agencies,

“Western media change the reality of other countries by covering the news in a biased approach, trying to convince the audience that all the useful activities, democracy, success, progress, and all kinds of capacities belong to the West, and the failures, defeats, weaknesses and inabilities are attributed to the target countries,” Khodadi said.

“In Yemen, hundreds of people were killed in the past two years, but no news is published in the (Western) media. On the other hand, the news of a small explosion in the Western countries becomes the main headline of the same media for days and weeks; this is an example of media's double standard policy.”

Khoddadi reiterated that the two countries should voice their ideas and introduce their capabilities, using their own capacities, to prevent, at least, third parties from influencing the bilateral ties.

The Iranian news agency head said he considered Iranian, Russian and Syrian media outlets to be credible sources of information. Moscow and Tehran should work together more closely in various spheres to deepen mutual understanding, Khoddadi noted, according to Sputnik.

“Another example of the Western media’s double standard policy is clear in the way they deal with human rights issue; they do not mention the countries where women don’t have their basic rights, such as the right of driving, or there is no parliament and ballot box; instead, they try their hardest to accuse us of baseless charges when we hold elections,” Khoddadi argued referring to Iran’s latest presidential election on May 19 during which the incumbent President Hassan Rouhani won a landslide victory garnering 23.4 million vote.

In another part of the interview, Khoddai spoke of the West’s attempts to change regimes in other countries, as in Syria, in which they not only try to change regime based on their own interests, but also they turn a blind eye to the difficulties and crises they make for the people of those countries.

In his arguments, he referred to Yemen, Afghanistan and Iraq as the other countries the West has caused troubles, but ignores them just to advance its goals.

As to IRNA’s international activities, Khoddadi referred to the Russian website of IRNA, and its page on twitter, adding that boosting cooperation with Sputnik would contribute to the expansion of the activities.

“It’s the right of our Russian speaking neighbors to hear our news directly from our tribune,” he added, saying that the right is now put into effect.

The IRNA cheif said that the US President Donald Trump 'has shown us the reality of the United States better to us.'

'Trump showed us the true nature of the US, and his behavior is a part of the country's reality. We already knew that the US is not trustworhty and nobody should rely on its words and promises, and Trump's behavior proved it,' Khoddai said, referring to the president's anti Iran rehetoric.

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