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The Islamic Republic News Agency ( fa, خبرگزاری جمهوری اسلامی, ''Xebergâzari-ye Jimhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye''), or IRNA, is the official
news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and News broadcasting, television Broadcasting, broadcasters. A news agency may ...
of the Islamic Republic of
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. Founded on 13 November 1934 as Pars News Agency during the time of
the Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
, it is government-funded and controlled under the Iranian
Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance 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 ...
. The agency also publishes the newspaper ''
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
''. , the Managing Director of IRNA is Ali Naderi. IRNA has 60 offices in Iran and 30 more in various countries around the world.


History

In 1934, Pars Agency was established by the Foreign Ministry of Iran (Persia) as the country's official national news outlet. For the next six years it operated under the Iranian Foreign Ministry working to disseminate national and international news. Pars Agency published a bulletin twice daily in French and Persian, which it circulated among government officials, international news agencies in Tehran and the local press. In May 1940, the General Tablighat Department was founded and the agency then became an affiliate of the department.
Agence France Press Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, D ...
(AFP) was the first international news agency whose reports Pars Agency used. Gradually, the Iranian news agency expanded its sources of news stories to include those of
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...
, the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
(AP) and the
United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
(UPI). An agreement with the Anatolia News Agency of Turkey further expanded the agency's news outlets to countries worldwide. The link-up also enabled it to provide classified bulletins to a limited number of high-ranking public officials. In 1954, following a coup the reforms of the
White Revolution The White Revolution ( fa, انقلاب سفید ''Enqelāb-e Sefid'') or the Shah and People Revolution ( fa, انقلاب شاه و مردم ''Enqelāb-e Shāh o Mardom'') was a far-reaching series of reforms resulting in aggressive moderniz ...
helped to modernize the Pars Agency, leading to expanded news coverage, improved professional services and a better-educated staff. It went on air with radio broadcasts of international news translated into Persian, which it offered to local subscribers. Under the new regime, it operated under the supervision of various state offices and ministries such as the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Post, Telegraph and Telephones, Office of the Prime Minister and the Labor Ministry until 1947. In 1957, the General Department of Tablighat fell under the supervision of the Publications Department of Tehran Radio as an independent department. In 1963 the activities of Pars Agency were brought under the newly created Information Ministry. Its name was changed to Pars News Agency, or PANA, and it began operating around the clock. In July 1975 the Iranian legislature passed a bill establishing the Ministry of Information and Tourism and changing the status of Pars News Agency to a joint public stock with capital assets of about 300 million rials. It then became an affiliate of the new ministry. Its Articles of Association in 23 paragraphs and notes were adopted by the then National Consultative Assembly of Iran. After the
Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
in February 1979, the Revolutionary Council (''Shawra-ye-Enqelab''), in June 1979, renamed the Ministry of Information and Tourism to the National Guidance Ministry (or Ministry of National Guidance). The same year Pars News Agency was renamed as the Islamic Republic News Agency.


Controversies

IRNA has been place under scrutiny in the past for spreading
misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. It differs from disinformation, which is ''deliberately'' deceptive. Rumors are information not attributed to any particular source, and so are unreliable and often unverified, but can turn ...
about various different events, including COVID-19, Israel, and the attempted assassination of Iraqi PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi. The organization's accuracy has been additionally questioned for citing
The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satire, satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on ...
, a satirical news website. The following list documents different controversies or false claims: * The November 7 2021 drone strike on Iraqi Prime Minister
Mustafa al-Kadhimi Mustafa Abdul Latif Mishatat ( ar, مصطفى عبد اللطيف مشتت; born 5 July 1967), known as Mustafa al-Kadhimi, alternatively spelt Mustafa al-Kadhimy, is an Iraqi politician, lawyer and bureaucrat and former intelligence officer who ...
was a "false flag" attack by the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. * "Extreme
Zionists Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
" and the Free Syrian Army do not believe in the threat of
Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. * Featuring an image of burning planes during the 2019 Gaza War, describing it as the aftermath of an Iranian airstrike on U.S. forces in Iraq. * An attack on protesters during the 2021 Sistan and Baluchistan protests was the product of foreign "involvement in inserting insurgency and unrest into Iran". *
Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and su ...
released files alleging that
Daesh An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic ter ...
was created by the United States,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, and Israel.


References


External links


Official website
{{Authority control 1934 establishments in Iran Government agencies established in 1934 Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran Iranian propaganda organisations News agencies based in Iran Mass media companies established in 1934 Mass media in Tehran State media