Tasnim News Agency

Tasnim News Agency
TypeBroadcast newspaper online and mobile
Country
Iran
FoundedNovember 11, 2012; 12 years ago (2012-11-11)
Headquarters12th Avenue, Mirzaye Shirazi Street, Tehran, Iran
Broadcast area
Worldwide
OwnerIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Key people
Majid Gholizadeh
(chairman)[1]
Official website
www.tasnimnews.com/en/ Edit this at Wikidata
LanguagePersian, English, Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, Hebrew, Russian

Tasnim News Agency (Persian: خبرگزاری تسنیم) is a semi-official news agency in Iran[2] associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).[3] Launched in 2012, its purpose is to cover a variety of political, social, economic and international subjects along with many other fields.[4]

Background

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In Islam, Tasnim (تسنیم) is the name of a spring in Paradise from which those nearest to God are said to be able to drink. Tasnim's stated goal is to "[defend] the Islamic Republic against negative media propaganda campaigns and provide our readers with realities on the ground about Iran and Islam."[5]

Tasnim is headquartered in Iran's capital Tehran, with reporters across the country and the Middle East.[citation needed]

Affiliation

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The IRGC controls Tasnim, which often magnifies the IRGC's ideology. Tasnim is the IRGC's largest owned media outlet.[6][3][7][8] During a visit to Tasnim's offices in 2023, then-IRGC commander-in-chief Mohammad Ali Jafari stated, "The faithful and revolutionary media have today a very heavy duty in confronting anti-Islamic and anti-human plots of the oppressors".[9]

According to Tehran Bureau, Tasnim plays an active role in the Iranian government's state-led disinformation campaigns against protestors.[6]

History

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Tasnim was founded on 30 June 2012 by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Hamidreza Moghaddamfar, board chairman Jafar Darouneh, and CEO Majid Qolizadeh Zahmatkesh. Darouneh was head of Tehran's Department of Education during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.[6]

In August 2023, the Afghan Taliban detained a photographer for Tasnim.[10]

COVID-19 pandemic

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According to the Anti-Defamation League, Tasnim has alleged in a series of propaganda articles that COVID-19 was part of "an American and Jewish plot at world domination through population control" hatched by Henry Kissinger, who is described as "the unique Jewish scholar and American strategist" and "a master controller of government and international finance."[11]

International sanctions

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See also: International sanctions against Iran and United States sanctions against Iran

On September 15, 2023, the European Union sanctioned Tasnim News Agency for "serious human rights violations in Iran," stating that the "news outlet is responsible for publishing false confessions by protesters on its website and social media accounts as well as for posting pictures of protestors on social media and asking readers to help identify them."[12] The same day, the United States Department of the Treasury added Tasnim News Agency to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)'s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.[13]

Non-Persian versions

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Tasnim staff includes English speakers, who translate some of the agency's articles into English.[14] In 2022, Tasnim launched a Hebrew-language website.[15][16] In 2023, Sputnik signed a deal with Tasnim to launch a Russian website.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "خبرگزاری تسنیم - خبرگزاری تسنیم؛ چشمه‌ی جوشان آگاهی‌بخشی". Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  2. ^ Rezaei, Farhad (2019). Iran's Foreign Policy After the Nuclear Agreement: Politics of Normalizers and Traditionalists. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 91. According to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency (TNA) (...)
  3. ^ a b Koyagi, Mikiya (2021). Iran in Motion: Mobility, Space, and the Trans-Iranian Railway. Stanford University Press. p. 197. Tasnim News Agency, a media outlet with links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (...)
  4. ^ "Tasnim News Agency launched". Tehran Times. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  5. ^ "About us". Tasnim News Agency. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  6. ^ a b c "The IRGC's Media Trifecta Part 1: The Case of Tasnim and Fars". Tehran Bureau. 2023-07-18. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  7. ^ Vatanka, Alex (2017-01-30). "IRGC-Controlled Media Continue to Glorify Iraqi Shiite Militias". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Who Runs Iran's Propaganda Machine Abroad". Radio Free Europe. 2020-04-17. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Visit of IRGC Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari". Tasnim News Agency. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  10. ^ "Taliban Detain Iranian Photojournalist". Tasnim News Agency. 22 August 2023. Archived from the original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  11. ^ Lerner, Shaya; Weinberg, David Andrew (April 3, 2020). "Battling COVID, Iran Regime Makes Jews its Bogeyman". Anti-Defamation League. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  12. ^ "COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2023/1779 of 15 September 2023 implementing Regulation (EU) No 359/2011 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Iran". September 15, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  13. ^ "Treasury Sanctions Iranian Officials and Companies Connected to Repression in Advance of the Anniversary of Mahsa "Zhina" Amini's Death". U.S. Department of the Treasury. September 15, 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  14. ^ "Tasnim News Agency". Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  15. ^ "חדשות באיראן ובעולם | Tasnim News Agency".
  16. ^ "Tasnim News Agency Launches Website in Hebrew Language". Tasnim News Agency. 3 January 2022. Archived from the original on 13 January 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  17. ^ "Iran's Tasnim, Russia's Sputnik Ink Cooperation Deal - Society/Culture news". Tasnim News Agency.
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  • Media related to Tasnim at Wikimedia Commons
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