AhlulBayt News Agency (abbreviated ABNA) is an Iranian online news aggregator based in

Qom Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its popul ...

. It was launched on March 15, 2005, by authorities of the

Ahl Al-Bayt World Assembly The Ahl al-Bayt ( fa, مجمع جهانی اهل البیت) is an international non-governmental organization ( INGO) in Iran. It was founded in 1990 by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and a group of Shiite elites under the supervision of the great ...

. Its coverage includes issues concerning Shiite communities in Asia, Africa, Europe, America and other parts of the world. It gained a large following during the Arab spring and was banned in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for covering the regional protests.

History

In the year 2005, to tackle with the problem of mass media covering Shiite communities in an unfair way, it was the secretary General of the

who recognized that in order to fight this one-sidedness there should be an exclusive website that can fully dedicate its time and energy to make sure all Shiite communities remain aware of the developments around them. To help, under-reported communities rise, in that year, the first form of a primary Shia news outlet came into existence under the name ''Shianews''. In the summer of 2006, with an optimistic vision, the website received a professional management team to introduce it in a new interface which was more fitting and easy-to-use. At this point, more domains were also assigned for the site. In August 2007 a new phase was kicked off due to the amount of attention the website gained, making it one of the most famous Shiite news websites on the net. At this moment, Shianews changed both its domain and title to AhlolBayt News Agency and Abna24.com, managing to speak to a wider range of visitors from some Arab and western countries that had restrictions with ir domain. Subsequently, and by the inauguration of President

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

, ABNA became an official news agency operating in 20 (25 as of now) languages with full-time employees.

Agenda

People in ABNA are given the task to constantly observe the developments in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria and other areas where issues related to Shiite communities and often other minorities (including non-Shias) are unfolding. They report on them and let people share them via social media. They try to be equal in their approach.

Awards

ABNA is awarded many times during festivals in Iran. In 2012 ABNA won a prize for being the best online news agency from the 19th International Press Exhibition.

Authorizations

ABNA is licensed by the

Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (Iran) The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance ( fa, وزارت فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامی, ''Vâzart-e Ferheng-e vâ Arshad-e Eslâmi'') ("Ministry of CIG") is the Ministry of Culture of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is responsible ...

and is run by Sayyid Ali Reza Husseini as its managing director.

Languages

ABNA is already available in 25 languages including

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Farsi Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken an ...

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Azeri Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic people living mainly in Azerbaijan (Iran), northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republi ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, Cyrillic,

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

, Swahili,

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...

, Bosnian, Burmese, and

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also * ...

Headquarters

ABNA has two main offices, one in

and the other in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

References

External links

Official website

Join ABNA English on Telegram
{{Authority control Iranian news websites News agencies based in Iran