Two days after Iran International TV revealed in an investigative television report that the new chief of Iran's state television had fired two top managers, media in Tehran confirmed the news on Wednesday.
The two fired managers are Abdolreza Bavali the head of the state TV's rolling news channel and Mehrdad Seyedmehdi the head of the state television's newsroom, aka, IRIB News Agency. Bavali was fired after “undermining” new state TV chief Payman Jebelli's "success" in changing the broadcaster's secretive approach to sensitive news and its censorship of developments that had been already leaked on social media.
The state TV, officially called the Islamic Republic of Iran's Broadcasting Organization (IRIB) operates under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's direct supervision and its CEO is appointed by him every five years.
Jebelli’s change of approach has been observed at least during three recent developments. Unlike past practice of censoring sensitive news about regime officials, IRIB broadcast the video of an IRGC general being slapped in the face during his inauguration ceremony as the governor general of East Azarbaijan Province. The broadcaster also covered a controversy about the appointment of a son-in-law of Tehran's mayor as his deputy and the nationwide disruption of an electronic system in Iran’s gas stations.
Jebelli took pride in bringing about the changes ina special edition of the state TV's daily newspaper Jam-e Jam which dedicated several pages in which media experts and professionals praised his performance. Subsequently, Bavali released an audio that undermined Jebelli's performance and said what he did was nothing new.
Bavali later sent out another audio clip in which he said Jebelli was infuriated after he listened to the first audio file. He also said that he was not able to convince Jebelli that he was right, and he did not mean to undermine Jebelli's decision. He added that he knew he was going to be replaced sooner or later.
Mehrdad Seyedmehdi was fired after he undermined the importance of broadcasting the news about the gas stations in an October 31 tweet in which he said there were more important developments on that day to be covered by the network.
Meanwhile, Seyedmehdi addressed Iran International in another tweet on 1 November and said the change of management at the Iranian state TV was "a family matter."
The Iran International report had assessed the development as a move to enforce Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's new media strategy, which has been trumpeted, but few know what exactly it is. Khabar online in its assessment of the development, which was released as a video report, called it "The state TV chief's Overnight onslaught against the 30-year-old system of news dissemination" at the organization.
According to Khabar Online, the change that was made overnight on November 2 was expected since Jebelli took office in late September. The report opined that "now the system is unified and is totally under Jebelli's control. The report added that the new state TV Chief can apply his own development plan which will turn the national broadcaster into "a single news dissemination system."
Khabar Online further explained that the offices of the political deputy, the state TV newsroom, and the rolling news channel will be merged to create one single organization that puts an end to the three organization's separate operations.
Jebelli's declared mission is to return the nation's lost trust in the IRIB. The Broadcaster has been losing its viewers since 2009 and particularly after the 2017 presidential election and the latest poll conducted in Iran said the state TV's popularity dropped by another 15 percent between March and September 2021.
Major-General Hossein Salami told crowds outside the former embassy that the US had not accepted its defeat by the Iranian people, 42 years after the 444-day confinement of its diplomats, embassy staff and soldiers.
November 4 marks both the National Day of the Fight against Global Arrogance – the US – as well as National Student Day and government-organized rallies are held to mark the occasion.
President Ebrahim Raisi (Raeesi), attending a rally while touring Semnan province, accused the US of "70 years of hostility towards Iranian people,” referring to the US-backed coup of 1953 that overthrew prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh and restored the Shah.
Raisi insisted that Iran remained committed to securing the lifting of all US ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions in talks with world powers in Vienna aimed at restoring Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement.
In his speech at the former US embassy, Salami highlighted Iran’s charge, relayed by state media November 3, that the US on October 23 tried to seize an Iranian oil shipment in the Sea of Oman, only to be thwarted by the IRGC. The US, which threatens punitive action against buyers of Iranian oil under ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions, has given a different account of the incident.
Salami charged the US with "supporting terrorists in some regions and international oil theft in others.” The IRGC commander described Iran as the "security anchor of the region" and advised its neighbors not to "seek help for security from those who are unable to secure their own security."
A resolution read at the end of the November 4 commemorations around the country proclaimed that “the powerful and anti- global arrogance nation of Iran” had “zero trust in domineering powers headed by the terrorist and murderous US regime". The resolution called for the lifting of all sanctions, verification this had taken place, and guarantees to Iran that the US would not again abandon international agreements it signed. It also blamed the US and Israel for the recent cyberattack on the distribution of subsidized gasoline at filling stations, although Iranian officials have said they have no forensic evidence.
Last year, events for the November 4 commemorations were cancelled due to the pandemic but this year rallies are being held in city squares and other outdoor venues with attendees encouraged to follow public-health protocols. Media photos and footage have shown participants, many of whom are not wearing masks, mingling closely.
Those attending the rally outside the former US embassy, Alef news reported, were treated to a theatrical tribunal judging the “murderous leaders” of the world, with “US, Israeli and British murderers” ending up in jail.
The October 2021 Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East and Central Asia report of the International Monetary Fund contains a table of countries with their foreign reserves listed since 2000. Iran’s foreign reserves in 2018 was $122.5 billion and in 2020 had dropped to $12.4 billion.
When the United States withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA in May 2018 and began restricting Iran’s oil exports and international banking relations, the Islamic Republic dipped into its foreign reserves to make up for the loss of oil revenues.
In its more than 40-year history, the Islamic government has remained heavily dependent on oil exports to finance at least half of its known government budget, plus its secret military, intelligence and regional alliances.
The ‘maximum pressure’ campaign launched by the Trump administration gradually reduced Iran’s oil exports and kept them at a historically low level of around an average of 200,000 barrels a day from May 2019 to late 2020. Before the sanctions, Iran exported were more than 2 million barrels a day.
In September 2020, candidate Joe Biden announced that he opposed Trump’s decision to leave the JCPOA and wanted to return to the deal if elected. This meant that he had to lift at least some of the sanctions. Reports came a while later that Iran’s oil shipments had increased to 500,000 bpd or more.
It is difficult to say with certainty that the additional oil sales have boosted Iran’s currency reserves from 12 to 31 billion dollars in one year, but they must have helped.
In April as negotiations to restore the JCPOA started in Vienna, Reuters reported that Iran was selling around 500,000 bpd, much less than before the sanctions but enough to generate at least $9 billion annually. We can never be certain of exactly how much oil Iran is exporting clandestinely and how much money it is making. Perhaps it is more than $9 billion, as some estimated that exports had reached 900,000 bpd in some months. China is the main importer, although officially its customs data show no oil imports from Iran.
Critics say that the Biden administration is not rigorously enforcing US sanctions and has allowed China to buy Iranian oil, disguised as shipments from other countries, pretending not to know the real origin of cargoes it receives.
Gabriel Noronha, former Special Advisor for the Secretary's Iran Action Group at the State Department during Trump told Iran International that “For months, the Biden Administration has seen and ignored Iranian oil sales to China, which has now provided Iran around $10 billion in additional revenue. The most it has done is threaten sanctions against China, but shown no willingness to actually do so. They mistakenly believe that China's cooperation is needed to get back into the JCPOA, when it is really a question for Iran to answer. It is very disappointing that this administration has taken such a naive approach to China's relationship with Iran.”
Iranian experts have argued that China is paying little cash for the oil it buys from Tehran due to US banking sanctions, and instead it sends goods via middlemen, who make huge profits. But the mystery of the IMF estimate remains in place. Without oil revenues, Tehran could not have boosted its reserves.
Fars news agency affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard insisted in October that China is buying oil from Iran,
Noronha blames the Biden Administration for not fully enforcing US sanctions. Iran has left the JCPOA multilateral talks in Vienna since June and has not committed to a date for resuming negotiations. Meanwhile, it is enriching uranium to up to 60 percent purity that has no civilian use.
“Instead of getting a better deal or depriving the regime of funds for its nuclear program and terrorism, the Biden Administration has obtained zero concessions from the regime in its 10 months of appeasement,” Noronha says.
