Outlet profile

Press TV

Iranian state media

Owned byOwned and operated by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), Iran's state broadcasting authority, whose head is appointed directly by Iran's Supreme Leader

FundingFunded by the Iranian government through the IRIB state broadcasting budget

On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

Press TV launched on July 8, 2007, as part of IRIB, Iran's sole legal domestic broadcaster, created to extend Iran's narrative to a global English- and French-speaking audience much like Russia's RT or Qatar's Al Jazeera. In January 2012, the UK media regulator Ofcom revoked Press TV's broadcasting license, citing evidence that editorial control actually rested with Press TV International in Tehran rather than its nominal UK licensee, and separately fined it over a 2011 interview with journalist Maziar Bahari that was found to have been obtained under duress while he was imprisoned in Iran. The channel has also faced sustained criticism, including from the Anti-Defamation League, for publishing and airing content questioning or denying the Holocaust, which critics say serves to export antisemitic narratives to English-speaking viewers. It has been banned or restricted from major satellite and social media platforms over the years, and Meta now labels its accounts as "Iran state-controlled media." The Israeli government regards Press TV as a propaganda arm of the Iranian state. It has struggled to build the kind of international audience achieved by RT or Al Jazeera English, operating today largely through its website, Telegram, and remaining social platforms. Its reporting consistently supports Iranian government positions and is hostile toward U.S., Israeli, and broader Western policy, particularly intensifying during the 2026 U.S.-Iran conflict and sanctions escalation.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-10-02; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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