Voice of America to Iran: "The U.S. is led by religious fanatics much like Iran"

On this year’s International Women’s Day (March 9th), the Voice of America broadcasts to Iran featured an hour long interview with Shaida Mohammadi, an Iranian poet and author. In the course of the interview, Mohammadi used her taxpayer funded platform to the Iranian populace to equate Iran’s fanatical, religious government with the United States:

With a religious government, individualism is gone. In a country, such as America, this disaster also exists. You see. . .even the President has very religious, fanatical and traditional beliefs. In American, if you travel to central and southern states, you’ll see many religious and traditional people. Here also, I think, we are facing the same problem we have in Iran.

Later in the interview, Mohammadi endorses the views of an Iranian author who calls the President “an oppressor, a foolish and shortsighted person. . .who wants to spread democracy with war.” Mohammadi was not interrupted nor challenged when she made these comments. Voice of America did not provide the Iranians any balance to Mohamadi’s hostile remarks about U.S. government and culture.

Key facts:

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is the independent agency that is responsible for the Voice of America.
The U.S. taxpayer funded the BBG $644 million in 2006.

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Voice of America to Iran: "The U.S. is led by religious fanatics much like Iran"

News:

May 1, 2007

By Jowl Mowbray

Wall Street Journal

Mar 18, 2007

By Joel Mowbray

Wall Street Journal