Outlet profile

Press TV / IRNA

Iranian state media

Owned byPress TV is owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), whose head is constitutionally appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader. IRNA is a government news agency under Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

FundingBoth are funded primarily through the Iranian government budget. Press TV also carries some advertising revenue through IRIB.

On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

IRNA traces its roots to the Pars News Agency, founded in November 1934 under Reza Shah as Iran's official national news outlet. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution it was renamed the Islamic Republic News Agency and placed under the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Press TV launched on July 8, 2007, as IRIB's flagship international English-language television channel, designed to counter BBC World News, CNN International, and Al Jazeera English and to present Iran's perspective to a global audience. IRIB, Press TV's parent, has been under the direct constitutional authority of Iran's Supreme Leader since the 1989 revision of Iran's constitution. In January 2012, British regulator Ofcom revoked Press TV's UK broadcast license after finding that editorial control rested in Tehran rather than with its London license holder, and after it aired a coerced jailhouse interview with imprisoned journalist Maziar Bahari. The US Treasury Department has sanctioned IRIB, describing it as a tool the Iranian government uses to intimidate and suppress its own population. Media monitors consistently rate both outlets as having very low factual reliability and a strong pro-Iranian government editorial bias across topics including Iran's nuclear program, US and Israeli foreign policy, and coverage of internal Iranian dissent.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-07-18; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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