Pro-Hassan Rouhani Iranian editor defects while covering nuclear talks in
Lausanne
Amir Hossein Motaghi says he no longer sees any “sense” in his profession as
he could only write as he was told
By Ahmed Vahdat and Richard Spencer
5:21PM GMT 27 Mar 2015
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/11500145/Pro-Hassan-Rouhani-Iranian-editor-defects-while-covering-nuclear-talks-in-Lausanne.html

A close media aide to Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, has sought
political asylum in Switzerland after travelling to Lausanne to cover the
nuclear talks between Tehran and the West.

Amir Hossein Motaghi, who managed public relations for Mr Rouhani during his
2013 election campaign, was said by Iranian news agencies to have quit his
job at the Iran Student Correspondents Association (ISCA).

He then appeared on an opposition television channel based in London to say
he no longer saw any “sense” in his profession as a journalist as he could
only write what he was told.

“There are a number of people attending on the Iranian side at the
negotiations who are said to be journalists reporting on the negotiations,”
he told Irane Farda television. “But they are not journalists and their main
job is to make sure that all the news fed back to Iran goes through their
channels.

“My conscience would not allow me to carry out my profession in this manner
any more.” Mr Mottaghi was a journalist and commentator who went on to use
social media successfully to promote Mr Rouhani to a youthful audience that
overwhelmingly elected him to power.

But he was also subject to the bitter internal arguments within the Iranian
regime. One news website claimed he had been forced in to report to the
ministry of intelligence weekly, and that he had been tipped off that he
might be subject to arrest had he returned to Tehran.

He is said to have been a friend of Jason Rezaian, the Iranian-American
reporter for the Washington Post who has been detained in Tehran, and to
have campaigned privately for his release.

ISCA, which has come under fire from regime hardliners critical of Mr
Rouhani, issued a statement denying that Mr Motaghi was in Lausanne to
report for it.


“Amir Hossein Motaghi had terminated his contribution to ISCA and this news
agency has not had any reporter at the nuclear talks, except for a
photojournalist”, it said.

However, critics said Mr Mottaghi was “prey of the exiled
counter-revolutionaries” and had gone to Lausanne with the sole purpose of
seeking refugee status in Switzerland.

In his television interview, Mr Mottaghi also gave succour to western
critics of the proposed nuclear deal, which has seen the White House pursue
a more conciliatory line with Tehran than some of America’s European allies
in the negotiating team, comprising the five permanent members of the UN
security council and Germany.

“The US negotiating team are mainly there to speak on Iran’s behalf with
other members of the 5+1 countries and convince them of a deal,” he said.