Iran Feature: Regime to Media "Print Only Hope and Joy About Sanctions"

Tehran Chief Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi has called on the press and broadcasters to adopt the right tone in coveraage of the economy and sanctions:

It is expected that the media take more responsibility and understand the circumstances of [the country's] situation, and refrain from painting a bleak picture and exaggerating the problems. Instead, [the media] should create an atmosphere of hope and joy to prove that they can become a major asset in defending the Islamic Revolution.

Doulatabadi urged Iran's Culture Ministry to give "appropriate instructions" to ensure the proper coverage.

Doulatabadi's injunction was issued as Najmeh Bozorgmehr, reporting for the Washington Post and Financial Times, published a story about the damaging effect of sanctions on health care:

Hengameh Ebrahim-Zadeh, of the Tehran Province Thalassemia Association, an NGO, says patients — estimated to number about 20,000 across the country — now receive enough medicine to cover just a few days of their monthly needs.

She said she knows of four deaths in Tehran over the past month that were a result of the shortage of medicine for thalassemia patients.

Kidney dialysis and transplant patients suffer from similar problems. Daryoush Arman, an adviser to the Iran Charity Association to Support Kidney Patients, an NGO that helps about 65,000 people, said those patients who are prescribed imported medicine by their doctors are struggling. However, he added, “the biggest challenge” lies ahead, as a shortage of dialysis and transplant equipment is likely to worsen.

However, in a twist, Doulatabadi and Fars found their good news from another Western reporter, Clyde Russell of Reuters. In a perfect circle of Iranian propaganda, Russell takes regime statements and the lack of a significant discount on Iran's oil price to proclaim, "Iran Confident It Is Winning Sanctions War" --- Fars in turn posts Russell's story at the top of its homepage.