The New York Times, 19 August 2015
Describing Iranian state media reports accusing it and a veteran report of conspiring against Iran’s government, the Wall Street Journal slammed back on Wednesday in defense of its work.
In a statement, The Journal said the Iranian reports had erroneously asserted that the correspondent, Farnaz Fassihi, had acted as a secret link between the United States government and the opposition in Iran.
The accusations against Ms. Fassihi, which appeared in conservative Iranian publications recently, including the Kayhan newspaper, a mouthpiece of Ali Khamenei, constitute the second serious public dispute in the last year between Iran and a major American newspaper over the actions of an American correspondent.
The Washington Post’s Tehran bureau chief, Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American, has been imprisoned for nearly 13 months on charges including espionage.
Ms. Fassihi, who also is of Iranian descent, was based in the Middle East for The Journal from 2003 to 2014 and covered Iran extensively, including the 2009 disputed presidential elections and subsequent crackdown on the following uprising .She is currently based in New York.
“Ms. Fassihi is a highly accomplished, longtime Wall Street Journal senior writer who has reported fairly and accurately from the region for more than a decade,” Gerard Baker, editor in chief of the newspaper, said in the statement.
“Her reporting has been a model of courageous, fair and high-impact journalism,” he said. “She has repeatedly risked her life and safety from the front lines of wars and uprisings to document the truth, which makes these scurrilous allegations all the more galling.”
Ms. Fassihi was not giving interviews, but in a statement issued through The Journal, she said: “I have watched with horror and dismay as these false allegations against me have circulated in Iranian media. I am a journalist. My independence and reputation are sacred to me.”
The allegations against Ms. Fassihi come as members of the United States Congress are considering whether to accept the accord reached last month with Iran over its disputed nuclear activities
The Journal’s editorial pages, which are politically conservative, have sharply criticized the Obama administration over its Iran policies and the nuclear issue. But the newspaper draws a sharp distinction between its news sections, which are widely considered to be straightforward, and its editorial pages.
“These same media outlets have also suggested that The Wall Street Journal is part of a conspiracy against Iran,” the statement said. “These are transparently false allegations.”
It called on the Iranian media outlets “to cease their inaccurate reporting about Ms. Fassihi and The Wall Street Journal.”
In a statement, The Journal said the Iranian reports had erroneously asserted that the correspondent, Farnaz Fassihi, had acted as a secret link between the United States government and the opposition in Iran.
The accusations against Ms. Fassihi, which appeared in conservative Iranian publications recently, including the Kayhan newspaper, a mouthpiece of Ali Khamenei, constitute the second serious public dispute in the last year between Iran and a major American newspaper over the actions of an American correspondent.
The Washington Post’s Tehran bureau chief, Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American, has been imprisoned for nearly 13 months on charges including espionage.
Ms. Fassihi, who also is of Iranian descent, was based in the Middle East for The Journal from 2003 to 2014 and covered Iran extensively, including the 2009 disputed presidential elections and subsequent crackdown on the following uprising .She is currently based in New York.
“Ms. Fassihi is a highly accomplished, longtime Wall Street Journal senior writer who has reported fairly and accurately from the region for more than a decade,” Gerard Baker, editor in chief of the newspaper, said in the statement.
“Her reporting has been a model of courageous, fair and high-impact journalism,” he said. “She has repeatedly risked her life and safety from the front lines of wars and uprisings to document the truth, which makes these scurrilous allegations all the more galling.”
Ms. Fassihi was not giving interviews, but in a statement issued through The Journal, she said: “I have watched with horror and dismay as these false allegations against me have circulated in Iranian media. I am a journalist. My independence and reputation are sacred to me.”
The allegations against Ms. Fassihi come as members of the United States Congress are considering whether to accept the accord reached last month with Iran over its disputed nuclear activities
The Journal’s editorial pages, which are politically conservative, have sharply criticized the Obama administration over its Iran policies and the nuclear issue. But the newspaper draws a sharp distinction between its news sections, which are widely considered to be straightforward, and its editorial pages.
“These same media outlets have also suggested that The Wall Street Journal is part of a conspiracy against Iran,” the statement said. “These are transparently false allegations.”
It called on the Iranian media outlets “to cease their inaccurate reporting about Ms. Fassihi and The Wall Street Journal.”
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