IRIB Council: Choosing Anchors For Head’s Interviews With Consent

Tehran, Feb 9, IRNA – Supervisory Council over national radio-TV networks announced Saturday it was decided in that council that anchors in interviews with heads of 3 branches of power must be chosen with their full consent and in harmony with them. Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli and the President’s Cultural Affairs Adviser Hesameddin Ashena reiterated in an interview with IRNA that in a session of the Supervisory Council over Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Performance which was convened to review a letter written by the IRIB chief, decisions were made, including warning the IRIB against the delayed broadcasting of the president’s interview despite the people’s expectations, based on an unacceptable IRIB decision. “It was also decided in that council that choosing the anchors in interviews with the heads of the three branches of power must be in full harmony with them, and if the proposed anchor by the high official was not acceptable by the IRIB, the program would be aired after the official in question would accept full responsibility for it,” they said. The live Wednesday night interview of President Hassan Rouhani which was schedule to be aired at 9 pm was broadcasted with an hour delay due to the IRIB chief’s opposed viewpoint with the president over the anchors to conduct it, and both the president and the people who wished to watch the interview were thus urged to wait an hour to watch the interview, spending the time idly. After the move, the IRIB Chief Ezzatollah Zarqami wrote a letter to the IRIB Supervisory Council asking it to opine keeping in mind the emerged situation and the IRIB’s legal duties./end