RI
19 October 2014
Suddenly, the educational background
of Iranian officials and their children has become a matter of interest to
Business Insider, covering two stories in forty-five days. The first piece was published
on 5 September 2014 by Emanuele Ottolenghi, while the second one was published on 15
October 2014 by Armin Rosen.
However, it is also
interesting to know that Farhang News, an Iranian online outlet, published the
revelations from most parts of the first piece in full translation (in Persian) on
its 17 October article. A publication on the educational background of Iranian
ministers or their children in Western countries is not something that Iranians
normally see in local papers or online outlets. It can possibly be explained by
the fact that Farhang News is one of the publications belonging to the right-wing camp. Recently, figures from the camp have shown huge interest in downgrading
the credibility of Mr Rohani’s cabinet ministers, so perhaps Business Insider did
the job for them, unknowingly.
So it is no surprise to
see that Farhang omitted some parts of the original publication that refer to
those Western-educated individuals appointed during Ahmadinejad’s presidential era.
