Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani sharply attacked (Arabic link) official Iranian media outlets, accusing them of spreading lies and perpetuating anarchy throughout the Islamic Republic.

Rafsanjani is now the chairman of the Iranian Expediency Discernment Council, an assembly which has an important advisory role to the Republic’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The prominent Iranian figure held the radio and television broadcasters responsible for discrimination through the dissemination of false news, which creates rifts in the country.

Rafsanjani pointed out that the climate of unity that prevailed 30 years ago is now missing. He also criticized what he called the “intolerance and division in the country.”

International organizations concerned with the protection of journalists and freedom of information, such as Freedom House, have ranked Iran as one of the world’s worst countries for freedom of expression – and even those minimal freedoms are in a steady decline.

The continued devolution of Iran’s official media institutions is a reflection of the nature of the Iranian regime, which rejects transparency and imposes its religious ideology on all facets of life.

[Photo: Siavush Randjbar-Daemi / Flickr]