TEHRAN - A senior reformist journalist says the London-based Iran International airs “hostile” messages which are in contrast with Iran’s national interest, ISNA reported.

Mashalah Shamsolvaezin said if a medium “produces hatred” instead of journalistic text, it means that it has entered the scene with a “special mission”.  

Speaking at the clubhouse about the performance of Iran International, he said, “Iran International is an artillery that fires bullets instead of messages. Its messages are both hostile and in contrast with Iran’s national interests.”

Shamsolvaezin said the directors of Iran international have openly said they seek to topple the ruling system in Iran.

Citing an example of promoting violence, he said Rouhollah Zam –director of the 'Amadnews' telegram channel - was teaching how to make Molotov cocktails but was claiming that “I am doing a journalistic work.”

He added Iran international has set a policy for itself in regard to Iran and abandoned its usual programs.

It is “disturbing” that this television channel has adopted a “damaging” approach toward Iran.

Since protests erupted in certain cities across Iran in September, Persian language media outlets, particularly Iran International, have been inciting violence. 

 Shamsolvaezin said promoting violence and trying to legitimize attacks on security forces under the name of “right to defense” can cause a “civil war” and this is “very dangerous”.

On the performance of the BBC Persian, he also said since this network is fearing that it is lagging behind Iran International, it has also resorted to fake news, rumors, unsourced reports and doing interviews with some persons like Komalah leaders who in today’s world are classified as terrorists. 

Iran International is funded by Saudi businessman with close links to MBS

In an exclusive report on December 31, 2018, the Guardian revealed the Persian-language Iran International is being funded through a secretive offshore entity and a company whose director is a Saudi Arabian businessman with close links to the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).

A source has told the Guardian that Prince Mohammed, who many believe is responsible for the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, is the force behind Iran International. The station, which is operating out of Chiswick, has not denied claims that it receives its funding from the Saudi royal court.

Iran International TV emerged abruptly on the London media scene in 2017; many of the 100-strong staff network were offered generous salaries, often double what rivals paid, but was elusive about its source of funding.

London has become a hub of such exiled Iranian channels, which also include BBC’s Persian service and Manoto TV.

The source claimed Saud al-Qahtani, the crown prince’s information tsar, who was among two senior officials removed in connection with the Khashoggi affair, was involved in the funding behind Iran International TV.

“You could have a larger picture about how those kids [Saudi media moguls] with that money being thrown around [by Prince Mohammed] trying to change the world by buying media … It is money coming from the royal court,” the source said, when speaking about the crown prince.

Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, a postdoctoral research fellow in modern Iranian history at the University of Oxford, said: “It appears that Iran International is part and parcel of the Saudi crown prince’s decision to take a more aggressive posture against Iran, emboldened, no doubt, by the Trump administration.”

Iran International has not disclosed any Saudi Arabian funding links to its staff of many Iranian nationals.

“I was told that not even one Saudi rial is in the funding. If I knew it came from Saudi, I would not have joined the station,” one insider said. “I can say that Iran International TV has turned into a platform … for ethnic partisanship and sectarianism.”

In early summer 2018, the station was criticized for airing extensive live coverage of a rally by the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), a cult-like organization that espouses regime change and has links to Saudi Arabia.

The insider claimed the editorial content of the station had been influenced by its secret investors who were hidden behind an offshore Cayman Islands company. The MEK coverage, the insider said, was one such example.

Iran International gave airtime to the spokesperson of a group that praised a terrorist attack in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz on September 22, 2018.

Volant Media, the company that runs Iran International, has a director named Adel Abdulkarim, who is a Saudi national. He has had a long working relationship with well-connected Saudi executives, some of who have links to the royal court, including Abdulrahman al-Rashed, who sits on the board of Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), the largest publishing company in the Middle East (West Asia).

Multiple sources claim Rashed, who is the former general manager of the Saudi-owned news channel Al Arabiya, was also involved in the operations and funding behind Iran International.

Nabeel Al-Khatib, a consultant working with Iran International, has been described by its editors to staff as supervisor of the station or representative of the investors. It has been claimed Iran International editors have used Khatib’s Palestinian nationality to remain evasive about the channel’s Saudi funding.

According to one source, Saudi Arabia gave $250m (£197m) in funding to help the launch of Iran International, which runs no commercial advertising. The source did not give a timeframe, but a scrutiny of its office’s rent and employee salaries points to an initial five-year period – $50m per year. Volant Media lost £26m in 2017, according to accounts filed on October 4.

One former employee said many staff were stuck between a rock and a hard place. “They have realised they have not been told the truth about the Saudi paymasters behind the station but at the same time they can’t afford to resign or leave their job instantly for fear of incurring repayments under their contracts. Some rely on the television’s visa sponsorship to be able to continue living in London,” the former staff member said.

Rob Beynon, the acting head of the television station, did not deny that funding for it came from the Saudi royal court.