Behind the Headlines/May 10

Jamshid Chalangi:

Tonight we will look at the escalating crisis between Iran and US as Mike Pompeo says the Iran-backed militias in Iraq had been planning to attack US forces in that country.

We will also find out what is the main aim of putting more pressure on Iran as Brian Hook, the US special envoy on Iran affairs says America is not after overthrowing the Tehran regime or enter a war with it.

Meanwhile the value of US dollar against Rial has gone up as news of more major corruption in Iran has surfaced.

Our guests tonight are Dr. Alireza Nourizadeh and Mr Ardeshir Zareh in Toronto.

Dr. Alireza Nourizadeh: 

I am sure you remember the days that we both used to work as journalists at the national broadcasting organisation of Iran before the revolution.

Everyone enjoyed the respect of the system and we had a secured life style. But nowadays many young Iranians study hard and enter the same jobs with a world of hope and expectations but they can get sacked by the regime if they say anything that is not to its liking.

The regime’s security forces then raid their homes and confiscate their computers and private notes.

The new generation of Iran is a major loss for the country as many of them were killed in the war, many were paralysed for life and millions of them have fled the country and aged as old people before they even reach middle ages.

Ardeshir Zareh:

You two gentlemen are obviously among the veteran journalists but my journalistic experience began at the time of Khatami’s presidency when we had a relative freedom of press.

However, all that changed with the arrival of Ahmadinejad and his government.

We had done our best to echo the voices of the Iranian people through our journalistic works but even during the Khatami period and after that all Iranian journalist have been forced to adapt to self-censorship, as under the Islamic republic regime we have never had any freedom of press at all.