A common refrain often heard in Western media about Iranian media is that certain outlets are “close to the Revolutionary Guard.” This accusation often implies that the specific hard-line newspaper, website or news agency has an editorial focus that resembles or advocates the policies of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Drawing direct links between a specific website and an institution as large and as powerful as the IRGC can be difficult. Every so often, however, this topic comes up when officials with influence raise the issue.

Hesam al-Din Ashna, President Hassan Rouhani’s cultural adviser, spoke to the Islamic Republic News Agency on National Journalists Day in Iran and touched on the topic of media outlets funded by military institutions. “The costs of many [media] was established under the name of the country’s defense budget and their work is to oppress the real media of the country, and one must think why media is imagined to be an enemy,” Ashna said.

Ashna did not clarify what he meant, but in Iran’s highly polarized media, criticism from one media outlet against another is intended to create controversy with the hope that the judiciary will bring about charges against the offending media. This tactic is mostly used by hard-line media, which often has the backing of powerful organizations and institutions against Reformist media, which often has little backing.

Ashna continued, “Our concern for those of us who work in the field of professional media and news is that oversight on weak media is strong and oversight on strong media is weak.” In continuing his criticism of the media supervision bodies in Iran, he asked, “How is it that … Kayhan is so impolite that no one would dare file a complaint against them?”