Arab Press Can’t Decide Whom They Dislike More: Iran or Protesters

As Iranian demonstrators continue their protest against the rigged June 12th presidential elections, the Arabic press – much of which is state-controlled – has found itself in a quandary.

On one hand, the ubiquity of satellite television, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs – all of which have been influential in informing Arab publics about the events in Iran – has made it impossible for the Arabic press to ignore the protests.  Moreover, for those Arab states that view Iran as a strategic threat, the turmoil in Tehran is seen as potentially useful for dampening the strong support that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has long enjoyed within the Arab world.  In this vein, the Jordanian daily ad-Dustour ran a story publicizing the Iranian regime’s refusal to permit a public funeral for Neda Agha Soltan, who was killed during the protests and has emerged as a potent symbol of the “Green Revolution.”  (Interestingly, ad-Dustour referred to Ms. Soltan as “Martyr of the Protests” – an honorific implying the righteousness of the cause for which she died.)

Yet on the other hand, the Arab world’s authoritarian regimes fear that the Iranian protests will inspire dissidents in their own countries to organize.  In turn, much of the Arabic press has sought to undermine the protesters’ credibility by insinuating that they are foreign agents.  (Not coincidentally, state-controlled Arabic newspapers typically use the same argument against Arab pro-democratic dissidents.)  For example, in today’s edition of the Egyptian daily al-Ahram, the top headline on Iran reads, “Khamenei refuses to bow to opposition pressure; Iran looking to reduce relations with Britain … and accuses America of funding the protests.”  This portrays the Iranian leader as a bulwark against foreign intervention – an image that resonates with the way al-Ahram typically portrays Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Still, the Most Duplicitous Coverage Award goes to Hezbollah’s al-Manar satellite television station, which has used its English- and Arabic-language websites to mount two distinctive defenses of its Iranian sponsor.  Yesterday, al-Manar’s English site reported that Iranian Supreme Guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had extended the deadline for hearing electoral complaints, portraying the regime as pragmatically “working hard” to examine alleged voting “irregularities.”  As a footnote, the article quoted the Iranian Interior Minister as blaming the CIA, “the Zionist occupying regime,” and an exiled Iranian opposition group for funding the “post-election violence.” 

By contrast, the headline for the Arabic version of the same story attacked the protesters for their “self interest.”  Meanwhile, the body of the article included a lengthy rant that – after briefly repeating allegations against the CIA – emphatically accused British agents of “playing a role in the riots.”  In a truly eerie passage, al-Manar wrote:

Iran is rising up against the outsiders.  And since the most reasonable way to get rid of a snake is to cut its head off, Tehran has started with Britain, expelling two diplomats.  It is considering ending relations with [Britain].

It’s no surprise that this statement didn’t make it into al-Manar’s English-language coverage.  After all, Britain recently announced that it would engage Hezbollah, and, given Hezbollah’s defeat in the Lebanese elections earlier this month, this is hardly the time for the Iranian-backed group to insult its one western partner in their own language.

Here’s to hoping that our Anglophonic friends across the Atlantic have some Arabic translators on staff.