Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09RPODUBAI498
2009-11-18 12:58:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Iran RPO Dubai
Cable title:  

IRAN: THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PREL PROP IR 
pdf how-to read a cable
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R 181258Z NOV 09
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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0633
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHDIR/RPO DUBAI 0634
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RPO DUBAI 000498 

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/18/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PROP IR
SUBJECT: IRAN: THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED

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CLASSIFIED BY: Alan Eyre, Director, Iran Regional Presence
Office, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RPO DUBAI 000498

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/18/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PROP IR
SUBJECT: IRAN: THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED

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CLASSIFIED BY: Alan Eyre, Director, Iran Regional Presence
Office, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) Summary: The IRIG has for some time considered Western
media -- both press and entertainment -- as part of the "soft
war" it claims is being waged against it. Despite these claims,
and laws declaring satellite receivers illegal, the IRIG has
tolerated a Western media presence in the country and has rarely
moved seriously to stem the growing number of satellite
receivers in the country. There are recent indications,
however, that IRIG authorities are increasingly alarmed by the
popularity of BBC Persian and two commercial, satellite
broadcasters offering Farsi-language entertainment programming.
Implicit in this alarm is a fear that state-controlled
broadcaster IRIB is losing the battle for Iranian viewers. End
summary



Fourth Estate/Fifth Column

--------------




2. (C) Iranian officials have complained of what they describe
as "media terrorism," "press wars" and "cultural aggression" in
depicting the Western press and entertainment industry as an
element in the ongoing "soft war" against Iran. Following the
presidential elections, the IRIG imposed further restrictions on
Western journalists and news outlets in the country. According
to our press contacts, obtaining an Iranian visa has become
nearly impossible and they are subject to greater scrutiny by
the Ministry of Intelligence and Security. Many foreign news
outlets have scaled back or ended their presence in the country
for the security of their reporters.




3. (C) While those measures were intended by the IRIG to limit
the news flowing out of Iran -- in the IRIG's eyes, stopping the
distortion of Iran's policies and "falsehoods" about events in
the country-- Iranian officials seem increasingly worried about
the popularity of BBC Persian and two commercial, Farsi-language
entertainment channels that are broadcasting into the country.
In November 14 comments to a conference in Iran, IRIB Deputy
Director Ali Darabi said that about 40 percent of Iranian

households have satellite receivers, doubling in the past year,
and that the trend was worrisome. According to press reports,
Darabi said that satellite networks were an attempt by the
"Global Arrogance" to undermine Iranian culture and weaken the
nation, in recognition that it could not bring down the Islamic
Republic through military means. Darabi also implied that the
IRIG had grudgingly accepted the prevalence of satellite
receivers, saying that the law prohibited all but certain
"elites" from having satellite dishes; therefore, 40 percent of
Iranians were now members of the elite. (Note: According to
IRPO media contacts and other sources, the percentage of Iranian
households having satellite receivers may be as high as 65
percent.)




4. (C) Iranian officials have singled out BBC Persian for
criticism as a propaganda outlet since the service began. In
October, Iranian officials held a conference on the use of the
foreign media in psychological warfare, with much of the
conference devoted to BBC Persian and to a lesser extent VOA.
With its staff drawn mainly from Iranian journalists who
recently were living in Iran, and its high-quality production,
BBC Persian has attracted an audience, especially following the
election, at IRIB's expense. A BBC Persian contact told us it
had not conducted extensive viewership surveys yet, but it had
heard from its sources in Iran that IRIB was losing viewers,
with the loss attributed to BBC Persian, VOA and a general
boycott of the network after the presidential elections. There
are some press reports that IRIB's viewership has declined by 40
percent since June. (Note: We have not seen any ratings data
that would confirm those reports. Many of our Iranian contacts
regularly note that BBC Persian is superior to VOA for its
objectivity and its more professional production.)



Entertainment with Malign Intent

--------------




5. (C) Farsi1, a joint venture between News Corporation and

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Afghanistan's Moby Media, began broadcasting entertainment,
including many US and other Western programs dubbed into Farsi,
into Iran in August. Similarly, MBC Persian, which started in
2008, broadcasts Western movies with Persian subtitles into
Iran. Contacts at both channels have told us they are very
pleased with the channels' ratings. Farsi1 executives contended
it had already become the number 1 foreign-based channel in
Iran, and believe their viewers were coming primarily from IRIB.
The IRIG was sufficiently worried by their programming, which
includes Latin American and Korean serials in addition to
American shows and movies, that it was attempting to jam their
broadcasts using microwave jammers around Tehran. The IRIG also
made it illegal to provide dubbing for broadcasters outside Iran
in an attempt to deprive Farsi1 of the talent needed to produce
its Farsi voiceovers.




6. (C) Farsi1 executives and other IRPO contacts, while noting
the availability of BBC Persian and other news via satellite,
said most Iranians wanted entertainment and this -- plus the
availability of cheap satellite dishes in Iran -- was driving
satellite penetration and the departure of IRIB's audience.
Farsi1 contacts said its audience spiked during Ramadan, when
Iranians tend to watch more television.




7. (C) IRIB's response has been to try to increase the quantity
and quality of its entertainment to counter this competition for
the eyes and ears of the Iranian public, and press reports
indicated it may add dedicated sports, childrens, and film
channels at a cost of several hundred million dollars added to
IRIB's estimated USD 800 million budget. Iranian officials
have criticized IRIB's performance in countering this "threat"
thus far. For example, former Majlis Speaker Gholam Haddad
Adel told the October conference on foreign media as
psychological warfare that BBC Persian had done a better job
covering celebrations of the Iranian New Year than IRIB earlier
this year, and if that were the case, "then we have lost the
war."



Comment

--------------




8. (C) Although, IRIB remains the leading network in Iran and
the primary source of news and entertainment for most Iranians,
Iranian officials are obviously wary of the growing influence of
well-produced, Farsi-language satellite broadcasts from abroad
in what they perceive as war by other means. The availability
of alternative entertainment and news programs at a time of open
opposition to the government, and by extension the state
broadcaster, has no doubt further exacerbated the IRIG's
concerns over the influx of" foreign" ideas and fears of "soft
overthrow." The pointed criticism of IRIB that has followed
suggests that some IRIG officials believe that IRIB's management
is failing to counter these threats, although the Supreme Leader
recently re-appointed IRIB Director Ezzatollah Zarghami for
another five-year term. Despite the IRIG's concerns that these
broadcasts are meant to turn Iranians against their government,
we believe that most Iranians are simply looking for
entertainment, and to a lesser degree objective reporting, they
can't get at home in switching the channel to BBC Persian,
Farsi1 or MBC Persian.
EYRE