He/Him

Sneaking all around the fediverse.

Also at breakfastmtm@fedia.social breakfastmtn@pixelfed.social

  • 239 Posts
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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: October 4th, 2023

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  • According to the joint statement, they will now “be taking immediate steps to cancel bilateral air services agreements with Iran,” and work towards sanctioning Iran Air, the country’s flag carrier.

    “Entities and individuals involved with Iran’s ballistic missile program and the transfer of ballistic missiles and other weapons to Russia” will also face sanctions.

    . . .

    The U.K. released a statement detailing which Iranian individuals and organizations had been sanctioned by both London and Washington.

    These include Brigadier General Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari, the Iranian Defense Ministry’s director general for international relations, Second Brigadier General Ali Jafarabadi, the head of the Space Command of Iran’s Aerospace Force, and Majid Mousavi, Deputy Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

    The U.K. also announced sanctions on five Russian cargo ships “for their role in transporting military supplies from Iran to Russia.”


  • Wikipedia

    This paper has a sketchy history. It’s based in Moscow and not listed as a foreign agent. openDemocracy reports here on their history of publishing pro-Kremlin, pro-Putin nonsense. When 5 senior editors quit in response and started another paper, they were immediately labelled “foreign agents”. This is propaganda. Check this uncritical trash about teaching students “media literacy” by depending on the state propaganda network:

    The main meaning of the classes is to introduce schoolchildren to TASS as the main state news agency of the country, a source of reliable information about Russia and the world, follows from the scenarios of the classes. The Agency sets itself the task of “protecting the informational boundaries of the country and the truth, which is very often tried and trying to take away,” said Andrei Kondrashov, TASS Director General. In order to become a journalist, it is necessary to “Homeland to love” and be inquisitive, he concluded. (autotranslated)


  • Wikipedia:

    Iran International (Persian: ایران اینترنشنال) is a Persian-language news television channel headquartered in London aimed at Iranian viewers, and broadcasting free-to-air by satellite. Iran International was established in May 2017 and has broadcast its programmes from both London and Washington, D.C. In February 2023, Iran International moved its headquarters temporarily to Washington, D.C. due to increased threats from the Iranian government against their UK-based journalists, but back to London in September 2023.

    Programming:

    According to Middle East Eye, Iran International is a media platform for the Iranian opposition. Kourosh Ziabari of Al-Monitor wrote it “does not shy away from presenting itself as an opposition media organization” and frequently gives the microphone to guests who criticize the Iranian government. The channel has been referred to as an “Iranian exile news outlet” by Borzou Daragahi of The Independent.

    Ownership:

    Iran International is owned by Volant Media UK Ltd . . . Corporate documents for Volant Media shows that another Saudi national, Fahad Ibrahim Aldeghither, was the major shareholder of Volant Media before Adel Abdukarim. Aldeghither owned over 75% of the shares of Volant Media from May 2016 to May 2018. Fahad Ibrahim Aldeghither was the chairman of Mobile Telecommunication Company Saudi Arabia (Zain) from March 2013 to February 2016. Zain Saudi is the third-largest telecoms provider in Saudi Arabia.

    Editorial Independence:

    Though the TV station states that it “adheres to strict international standards of impartiality, balance and accountability”, questions have been raised regarding its editorial independence.

    In October 2018, a report by Saeed Kamali Dehghan in The Guardian linked Iran International’s funding to Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It also interviewed an unnamed insider who said that the editorial content had been influenced by its investors. A source was reported by The Guardian as saying that Iran International received $250m from Saudi Arabia for launching the channel. The insider and an unnamed ex-employee expressed dismay that Saudi funding had been concealed from the employees. Iran International denied The Guardian’s report . . . Azadeh Moaveni of New York University has charged the channel is an arm of Saudi Arabia: “I would not describe Iran International as pro-reform, or organically Iranian in any manner”.









  • From Mehdi Hassan’s Wikipedia page:

    Mehdi Raza Hasan (born July 1979) is a British-American progressive broadcaster, political commentator, columnist, author and co-founder of the media company Zeteo.

    . . .

    Zeteo was presented as a subscription-based news organization. He announced that the platform will “bring you hard-hitting interviews and unsparing analysis that you won’t find elsewhere”. Hasan presents a new video series on the Zeteo News channel, the first one was called “Debunked! Top seven lies about Gaza”.

    Hassan is identified as the founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief. His Wiki page says he’s a co-founder but I can’t find mentions of other founders. This is a media company built around Substack newsletters and they generate revenue from subscriptions. This Rolling Stone article says that they also raised $4M in seed money before launch but don’t note the source(s). They just launched in April and there doesn’t appear to be any fact check or bias analysis on them yet.

    Prem Thakker is currently listed as a staff reporter for the Intercept, though it says he worked for them “previously.” According to his bio there, he’s also worked for The New Republic, The American Prospect, and CNN. On July 23, he was announced as Zeteo’s “first full-time reporter.”