A recent report by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) alleges that Reuters, the international news organization, provided nearly $4 million worth of news services to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and its subsidiary Press TV. These Iranian state-owned media outlets are subject to U.S. sanctions due to their links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a history of broadcasting forced confessions and regime propaganda.
According to the tweet from the Network Contagion Research Institute, the services included "text, video, and photos." The NCRI further claimed that "Reuters communicated payment requests directly with Peyman Jebelli, a senior IRIB executive with close ties to Ayatollah Khamenei and a key figure in Iran’s global information warfare strategy." This assertion points to a direct financial relationship between Reuters and sanctioned Iranian entities.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) operates as Iran's sole legal television and radio broadcaster, exercising a monopoly over media services within the country. The U.S. Treasury Department has previously designated IRIB for its involvement in censorship activities, with sanctions dating back to 2013. More recently, in November 2022, the U.S. sanctioned six senior IRIB officials for their alleged role in broadcasting hundreds of forced confessions from Iranian, dual national, and international detainees.
Press TV, IRIB's English and French language news channel launched in 2007, aims to counter Western news coverage and disseminate Iran's perspective globally. Both IRIB and Press TV are widely regarded as instruments of the Iranian state, used to promote official narratives and suppress dissent. The U.S. government has cited their role in producing and broadcasting televised interviews where individuals were coerced into confessing to crimes or denying the true circumstances of deaths during protests.
The Network Contagion Research Institute, which published the report, is an organization focused on tracking and combating misinformation and disinformation across social media channels. Their work often involves analyzing the spread of hostile ideological content from state actors, including Iran. The institute emphasizes data-driven and objective analysis of sensitive social issues related to ideological dissemination. The alleged financial dealings between Reuters and IRIB, if substantiated, would raise questions regarding the provision of services to entities under international sanctions for human rights abuses and propaganda.