Iran’s al-Alam TV reporter Zia Ghaddur, injured in Syria in February 2020. The outlet has been closed amid Tehran’s economic difficulties.

Iran’s State TV is shutting down some of its foreign-language channels, denting Tehran’s projection of “soft power”, because of the country’s economic problems.

Payman Jebelli, the external services head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, said Wednesday that Iranian Radio’s Dari service to Afghanistan and the Arabic-language al-Kowsar TV network are among the services already closed.

Jebeili said that debts have not been paid to satellite providers. He added that a dozen other TV channels, including the English-language Press TV;’ the Arabic news network al-Alam, vital in Iran’s political measures in Iraq; the Spanish language Hispan TV; and i-Film channels in Arabic and English may be closed soon.

The IRIB official criticized the Rouhani Government for “negligence and deliberately exerting pressure on State TV”:

The administration has refused to allocate foreign currency funds to the State broadcaster….We have always suspected that the administration is following other objectives by exerting financial pressure on IRIB.

IRIB’s Dari radio has broadcast into Afghanistan since soon after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The closure comes at a critical time, with talks between the US, Pakistan, and the Taliban seeking a political resolution of Afghanistan’s long-time internal conflict.

But Tomato Exports Are Rising

Jebelli did not say how much IRIB owes to relay stations and satellite providers, complaining, “We thought the administration would do something to solve the problem after al-Kowsar network was cut off.”

In May, Jebelli claimed the external services budget had been cut by more than 80% since the Rouhani Government took office in August 2013.

IRIB is seeking dollars or Euros for spending, but amid US sanctions and a contracting GDP, the Government is only offering Chinese yuan.

The Rouhani Government says it allocated IRIB about $300 million in 2018-2019, 60% more than the official figure of $175 million in the budget.

Press TV, Iran’s leading English-language outlet, does not mention any difficulty. Instead, its lead story on Wednesday is “Iran Earned $97 Mln From Tomato Exports in April-May”.