Iran’s news agency chief quits after complaints from new President

Iran Focus: London, Aug. 03 – The managing director of Iran’s state-run news agency on Wednesday stepped down from his position less than two weeks after he was summoned to court for questioning after Iran’s new hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s campaign team filed a complaint against the agency for biased reporting against the conservative camp
during the June election campaign. Iran Focus

London, Aug. 03 – The managing director of Iran’s state-run news agency on Wednesday stepped down from his position less than two weeks after he was summoned to court for questioning after Iran’s new hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s campaign team filed a complaint against the agency for biased reporting against the conservative camp during the June election campaign.

Abdollah Nasseri’s resignation came without prior notification of such a decision and coincided with the ceremony for Ahmadinejad’s taking office.

Ahmadinejad’s presidential campaign team had charged that during the controversial second round of the elections, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) had supported the President-elect’s rival, former President Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Ahmadinejad’s win was marred with controversy with a number of rival candidates claiming that the former Revolutionary Guards senior commander had gained victory through massive electoral fraud.

IRNA announced that the managing director was to be replaced by Gholam-Hossein Eslamifard, the agency’s deputy for news affairs.