Iran warns of Western influence on Islamic press

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Nov. 23 – Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance has called on Islamic states not to rely on Western media. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Nov. 23 – Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance has called on Islamic states not to rely on Western media.

Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi, who was attending a meeting of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) in Tripoli, Libya, on Wednesday, said the “main responsibility of Islamic states” is to “cut dependence” on Western media. His remarks were reported by the official news agency IRNA on Thursday.

The Islamic world is at a stage of a “cultural revolution”, Saffar-Harandi said.

Saffar-Harandi, 54, is a close advisor to hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He is a former deputy editor-in-chief of the ultra-conservative daily Kayhan.

He held the rank of Brigadier General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and was once in charge of the IRGC’s Southern Command. He was also the Political Bureau director of the IRGC for many years.

In October 2005, he issued a directive ordering all female civil servants serving in his ministry and female journalists at the state newspapers and news agencies to go home by 6 p.m. to do their house chores.

The following month, the IRGC general-turned-media censor announced that he was purging his ministry of officials he viewed as having failed to protect Islamic values.

In August 2006, Saffar-Harandi vowed to rein in the media as part of a crackdown on “wicked manifestations in society”.