A Good Time to Push for Change in Iran?

As the international spotlight once again turns to Iran, the time is right to push for change and re-open debate with President Rouhani and his administration about human rights, says press freedom organization the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

The group’s new report, On the table: Why now is the time to sway Rouhani to meet his promises for press freedom in Iran, published today, May 24, urges Iranian president Hassan Rouhani to honor his election pledge to enhance freedoms in the country, including addressing the influence the country’s powerful ultra-conservatives have over key rights — access to information, free speech and digital freedom among them. It also calls on the Iranian government to allow the re-opening of the Association of Iranian Journalists, an independent organization that worked with journalists caught up in legal or employment disputes. Authorities closed it down in August 2009.

New global tensions have emerged following President Trump’s decision to take the US out of the nuclear deal, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). At the same time, these tensions could offer a unique opportunity to open dialogue on key issues shaping the lives of Iranians. 

The CPJ report implores governments in Europe — which Iran will increasingly want to build economic ties with in light of the US’ exit from the JCPOA — to raise press freedom in all meetings with Iranian officials, and to apply European Union guidelines on human rights when entering into any agreements with the Islamic Republic. 

It also highlights that although fewer journalists are jailed in Iran today than under previous administrations, censorship is still deeply enshrined in society and within the journalism profession, as well as informing the country's internet laws. "Journalists increasingly resort to self-censorship and take government restrictions for granted,” IranWire founder and editor-in chief Maziar Bahari told the authors of the report. “These journalists are cautious even where and when they are allowed to get close to red lines [and] report more freely on traditionally taboo subjects.”

Online Freedom and the Crackdown on Telegram

The CPJ report says that tech companies, and in particular instant messaging app Telegram, which is regularly used by 40 million Iranians, should communicate directly with journalists and press freedom organizations, as well as comply with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to help strengthen journalism communities and secure their rights. In light of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s insistence that the United States intends to help Iran move toward being a country of “economic opportunity, government transparency and greater liberty,” the report also calls for the US to “liberalize sanctions restrictions that impede access to software on online tools," and to assist companies offering censorship circumvention services by clearly setting out what they can and cannot do under existing sanctions law.  

The report acknowledges the impact social media continues to have on the way Iranians access news and opinion outside Iranian state media. And New York-based digital rights and security researcher Amir Rashidi says that the Rouhani government has taken steps to improve the country’s digital environment. “President Rouhani has improved Iran’s ICT [Information and Communication Technology] infrastructure and overall internet bandwidth, but the judiciary’s power and surveillance capacity has also increased,” Rashidi said. “In previous elected administrations, the Ministry of Culture would have more of a responsibility in regards to filtering, but now the judiciary is increasingly exerting its influence and power over what should or shouldn’t be filtered.  As a result, we’ve been witnessing an unprecedented direct attack on data.”

Despite Rouhani's support for a more liberal approach to the internet, after sustained calls from hardline politicians, campaigners and media and amid accusations that the app was facilitating the proliferation of illegal and “obscene” content, the Iranian judiciary blocked Telegram on April 30. Well into May, however, some Iranians reported that they were still regularly accessing Telegram channels using virtual private networks (VPNs). 

Targeting Journalists

The targeting of foreign-based Iranian journalists — and the impact on their families — is also highlighted in the report. In particular, journalists working for BBC Persian — which has an audience of 13 million —  have faced intense intimidation and threats, and many of their assets have been frozen. In March, the BBC  appealed to the United Nations to help protect journalists working for its Persian service. 

CPJ also talked to Nariman Gharib, who works for UK-based Persian satellite channel Manoto, about Iranian phishing and hacking attacks on journalists working for the news outlet. As internet security expert Collin Anderson points out, many of these attacks can be traced back to groups linked with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, with a particularly damaging malware campaign targeting journalists taken place between 2010 and 2016. 

Although the repercussions of President Trump’s announcement to leave the nuclear deal will continue to be felt, the CPJ report points out that this renewed attention on the Islamic Republic could signal a fresh opportunity for engagement, and for international actors to step up negotiations for Iranian authorities to grant its citizens greater civil freedoms as part of any economic deals it enters with the international community. It also provides an opening for President Rouhani to push for more online freedoms, and to push back against some of the more restrictive measures the country has put in place to stifle openness. 

At the same time, the report questions what actual power Rouhani has to enact this change. And in a continuing atmosphere of fear and censorship, coupled with the entrenched battles between Iran’s executive branch, the judiciary and the Supreme Leader-backed Revolutionary Guards, the challenge remains daunting. But, as Maziar Bahari says, “No one has ever been helped by silence.” It could be that the current climate — despite the political and cultural obstacles so clearly in abundance —is the right time for advocates, politicians and the media to come together to see what further freedoms might be extended in Iran in the coming months.