A spokesperson for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened a “regretful response” to Western media outlets — including Voice of America — over their coverage of the mass protests.
In a meeting with a special combat brigade on Wednesday, Ramezan Sharif, who is head of public relations for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or IRGC, described Persian-language foreign media outlets as “hostile.”
The spokesperson was cited by local media as saying social media is a “weapon” to manipulate the Iranian nation and described the media as “tools of the enemy.”
Sharif went on to name independent news outlets that he claimed were “mobilized to destroy” Iran, including VOA, the BBC, Manoto TV and the London-based Iran International news network.
His comments came after months of reporting on the anti-government protests sweeping Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was detained in September.
“You are wrong because now we have such control over you, and we will give each one of you a regretful response,” Sharif said in remarks directed at the media.
Iran has cracked down on opposition voices and the media over the protests.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a nongovernmental organization that monitors human rights violations in Iran, estimates more than 18,000 people have been arrested since September, and at least 500 killed.
Among those detained are dozens of journalists who reported on the protests.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists found that the country is the leading jailer of journalists, with more than 60 in custody, and a further 20 who were detained and later released on bail.
VOA’s acting Director Yolanda Lopez denounced the mass arrests of journalists in Iran earlier this year in a statement that said VOA is committed to “confronting the disinformation and censorship efforts of the Iranian regime.”
“The Iranian people deserve unfettered access to information,” Lopez said in a statement. “(VOA) stands with our fellow journalists in Iran and hopes for their safe release, because a free press matters.”
The Coalition For Women in Journalism, which is also documenting media arrests, says dozens of female reporters are among those detained.
Some have reported being abused or mistreated in custody, Kiran Nazish, the CFWIJ founding director, told VOA.
"We have been told by journalists and lawyers, that in some instances police or prison guards have indulged in straightforward sexual acts, including touching their genitalia," Nazish told VOA via email. "We don't see male journalists treated in the same way."
In early December, Iran's prison service denied that any women were sexually assaulted while detained, Agence France-Presse reported.
Sharif of the IRGC said the protests are a “false excuse” for sedition and referred to the protesters as “rebels.”
The spokesperson’s comments came just a few days after a commander of the Quds Force, which is part of the IRGC, made similar comments.
That commander was cited by diaspora news website Iran Wire as saying that anyone who has reported against Iran will be “hit without exception.”
Iran has been known to target journalists and critics, including those living in exile.
The U.S. spending bill passed in December included provisions to impose sanctions on Iranian officials found to be involved in the harassment, surveillance, kidnapping, torture or killing of Iranian and U.S. citizens.
The Masih Alinejad Harassment and Unlawful Targeting Act is named after VOA Persian television host and critic of the Iranian government Alinejad, who was the target of a plot to kidnap her and take her back to Iran.
Under the act, the U.S. secretary of state must file a report detailing the state of human rights in Iran, what actions the Iranian government has taken during the past year to target dissidents inside and outside of Iran, and how it finances the silencing of its critics.
This story originated in VOA’s Persian service.
