Head of Iran national broadcasting accuses opposition leaders

Ezatollah Zarghami in press conference

Ezatollah Zarghami, head of Iran's national television and radio broadcasting, Seda va Sima, charged MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the disputing candidates of the June presidential elections of trying to secure a television spot to incite people into joining street protests against the outcome of the elections. Zarghami maintained that such a message would have been contrary to Seda va Sima's objectives which was to "establish a stable social atmosphere" and help "society out of its instability."

Seda va Sima has been functioning as a powerful tool for the Islamic Republic especially in the past five months, by portraying election protesters as "a bunch of rioters." It has made every effort in its programming to paint Mousavi and Karroubi along with their supporters as a group of foreign-backed conspirators.

Head of Seda va Sima claimed the "riots" which MirHosein Mousavi lost control of caused the death of some people and if the television network had announced these deaths at the time, it would have caused "instability."

The opposition has accused Seda va Sima of biased coverage of the post-election events and repeated slandering of reformists.